The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services segments. 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, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investments operations. In addition, it owns and/or operates 30 hydroelectric generating stations, 24 fossil fuel generating stations, three nuclear generating stations, 13 combined cycle/cogeneration stations, 45 solar facilities, 15 wind facilities, one fuel cell facility, and four battery storage facility; and constructs, operates, and maintains 76,289 miles of natural gas pipelines and 14 storage facilities with total capacity of 157 Bcf to provide natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company serves approximately 8.7 million electric and gas utility customers. Further, the company offers digital wireless communications and fiber optics services. The Southern Company was incorporated in 1945 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Southern Trading Up 0.2 %
NYSE:SO traded up $0.12 on Monday, reaching $78.24. The company had a trading volume of 60,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,376,947. The stock's 50 day moving average is $72.42 and its 200-day moving average is $71.63. The stock has a market cap of $83.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Southern has a 52 week low of $60.99 and a 52 week high of $78.82.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.23. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 12.13%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Southern will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 15th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 12th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Southern's payout ratio is 95.77%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 19th. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $75.70.
Insider Buying and Selling at Southern
In other Southern news, EVP James Y. Kerr II sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,411,012. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP James Y. Kerr II sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total transaction of $1,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,411,012. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,057,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,406,509.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,002,500. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.
