Southern (NYSE:SO) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 2,578,157 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the previous session’s volume of 4,082,080 shares.The stock last traded at $68.10 and had previously closed at $68.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Southern from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 12th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.93.

Southern Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $73.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $66.86 and its 200-day moving average is $68.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. Southern’s revenue was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total transaction of $57,348.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at $1,484,791.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,569,766.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total value of $57,348.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,484,791.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,680 shares of company stock worth $1,174,768 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SO. Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.4% in the first quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 19,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,409,000 after acquiring an additional 3,689 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Southern by 33.5% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Southern by 63.0% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 49,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,621,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 35.8% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 907,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,776,000 after purchasing an additional 239,325 shares during the last quarter. 61.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Company Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.