Kimberly S. Greene Sells 9,126 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.84 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $75.36. 5,468,359 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,741,049. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The business's revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Vicus Capital bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $285,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 57.1% in the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,245 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Southern by 112.8% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,864,000 after purchasing an additional 72,598 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Southern by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 16,038 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Southern by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 126,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,182,000 after purchasing an additional 10,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group lowered Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.36.

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.