Southern (NYSE:SO) Sets New 52-Week High at $79.91

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $79.91 and last traded at $79.84, with a volume of 332256 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $79.19.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on SO shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.73.

Southern Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $87.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $72.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,518,045,000 after buying an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Southern by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after buying an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,737,843 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $694,953,000 after acquiring an additional 163,986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,811,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $634,988,000 after acquiring an additional 349,122 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.