Investors Purchase High Volume of Southern Call Options (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 6,828 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 48% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,598 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $89.74. The company had a trading volume of 3,483,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,439,474. Southern has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.94. The company has a market capitalization of $98.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Southern by 31.8% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 34.7% in the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth about $49,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.