Southern Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:SO)

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 7,514 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 71% compared to the typical volume of 4,392 put options.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $87.88. 1,002,436 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,219,563. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a market cap of $96.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.45. Southern has a 52 week low of $80.46 and a 52 week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Southern’s revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 73.27%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 275.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Advantage Trust Co raised its position in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on SO. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $97.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.03.

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.