James Y. Kerr II Sells 30,000 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock

by · The Markets Daily

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:SO opened at $88.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $97.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $64.53 and a 1 year high of $91.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.18 and a 200-day moving average of $80.68.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim upped their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.27.

Get Our Latest Report on SO

Southern Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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