Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Increased to $87.00 by Analysts at Bank of America

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective hoisted by Bank of America from $86.00 to $87.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $83.71.

Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $85.80 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.33. Southern has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $89.68. The firm has a market cap of $93.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,280 shares of company stock valued at $1,678,625. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after purchasing an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after purchasing an additional 7,550,570 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $631,068,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Southern by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,089,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $426,993,000 after buying an additional 111,311 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Southern by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,457,000 after buying an additional 934,447 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.