The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Receives $76.14 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.14.

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $77.72 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $77.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.39. Southern has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $80.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $84.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

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.