Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Raised to $91.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $90.00 to $91.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SO has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $86.33.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.70 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $86.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.95. 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 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $90.34. The firm has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Analysts predict that Southern will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,180,430,000 after acquiring an additional 481,071 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,457,000 after buying an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Southern by 21.3% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,572,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $199,528,000 after buying an additional 452,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $197,192,000 after buying an additional 51,751 shares during the last quarter. 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.