Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Southern (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 31,291 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 664% compared to the typical volume of 4,094 call options.

Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SO opened at $88.12 on Tuesday. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $89.77 and its 200 day moving average is $83.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $376,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 174,112 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,491,000 after buying an additional 8,713 shares in the last quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its position in Southern by 286.4% in the 1st quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 12,180 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $874,000 after buying an additional 9,028 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Southern by 16.7% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 22,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,631,000 after acquiring an additional 3,255 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

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.