Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $91.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.46.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $89.21 on Thursday. Southern has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SO. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $302,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Southern by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,078,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the period. Commerce Bank increased its position in Southern by 5.8% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 150,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,616,000 after acquiring an additional 8,246 shares during the period. Hilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the third quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 55.8% in the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 7,228 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 2,589 shares during the period. 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.