Analysts Set The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Target Price at $76.50

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.50.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,026 shares of company stock valued at $2,151,644. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $83.06 on Tuesday. Southern has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $83.46. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $79.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 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.