The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Receives $90.14 Average PT from Analysts

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $90.14.

A number of research firms recently commented on SO. Barclays lifted their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. FCG Investment Co raised its stake in shares of Southern by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 32,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,634,000 after purchasing an additional 5,090 shares in the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 5,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 9,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 117.0% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $326,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $83.92 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $84.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.31. Southern has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.