Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Southern Put Options (NYSE:SO)

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on SO shares. TD Cowen began coverage on Southern in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.03.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

Southern stock opened at $87.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $96.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45. Southern has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $93.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 64.6% in the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 65,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,021,000 after acquiring an additional 25,700 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 10.8% during the first quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,480 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 12.0% during the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 22,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 2,430 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 104,210,177 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,582,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthShield Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Southern

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.