Traders Purchase Large Volume of Southern Call Options (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 6,828 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 48% compared to the average daily volume of 4,598 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

Southern Price Performance

Southern stock opened at $89.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $98.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 3.27 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.00. Southern has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its position in Southern by 4.2% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 39,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,526,000 after buying an additional 1,568 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 60.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,147,000 after buying an additional 8,996 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at $478,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth $2,361,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.