Guggenheim Increases Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $97.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective hoisted by Guggenheim from $93.00 to $97.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SO. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Southern from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $88.27.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $90.31 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.34. Southern has a 1 year low of $62.26 and a 1 year high of $91.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $98.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SCP Investment LP bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $548,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 73,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,134,000 after acquiring an additional 5,785 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 121,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,532,000 after acquiring an additional 10,531 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Southern by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 8,713 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 131,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.