Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Raised to $97.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target lifted by UBS Group from $94.00 to $97.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on SO. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $89.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.24. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Syverson Strege & Co grew its position in Southern by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 4,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC grew its position in Southern by 1.8% during the third quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,381,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 32,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 3,011 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.