Southern Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:SO)

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 6,527 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 33% compared to the typical volume of 4,908 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Outfitters Financial LLC grew its stake in Southern by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Outfitters Financial LLC now owns 14,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 5.8% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 686,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,877,000 after purchasing an additional 37,599 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.4% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,323,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040 shares during the period. BRIA Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 22.2% in the third quarter. BRIA Capital Group LLC now owns 17,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,132 shares during the period. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 136,257 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,999 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded down $0.72 on Friday, hitting $93.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,361,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,831,217. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern has a 12-month low of $81.69 and a 12-month high of $99.58. The company has a market capitalization of $107.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.97.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Southern will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Southern from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. DA Davidson set a $98.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.24.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.