Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Southern Call Options (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity hit Southern Company, with investors buying 9,899 call options on Tuesday — about 160% above the average volume.
• Southern shares slipped 0.8% to $93.72, while the company maintains a large market cap of $105.64 billion and a relatively low beta of 0.34.
• The utility recently beat earnings expectations and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, implying an annual yield of about 3.2%; analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating with a $99.91 price target.

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 9,899 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 160% compared to the average volume of 3,806 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,560 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 7,280 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $232,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Tema ETFs LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.3% in the second quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 20,157 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,929,000 after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Trust Co boosted its stake in Southern by 20.8% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 2,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.74 on Tuesday, hitting $93.72. The stock had a trading volume of 2,309,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,762,887. Southern has a 52-week low of $83.80 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $105.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock's 50 day moving average is $94.22 and its 200-day moving average is $93.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.Southern's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern's payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $89.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $99.91.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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