Insider Selling: The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) CEO Sells $684,815.04 in Stock

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $75.85 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $75.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.64. The company has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vicus Capital bought a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $285,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,633 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Southern by 112.8% in the third 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 last quarter. First United Bank & Trust boosted its position in Southern by 8.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in Southern by 9.2% in the third 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 last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Company Profile

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.