Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Raised to $98.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target upped by Scotiabank from $96.00 to $98.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SO. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $83.20 on Thursday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $91.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $88.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.56.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % 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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in Southern by 3.8% in the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.