UBS Group Increases Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $91.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at UBS Group from $90.00 to $91.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 2.60% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SO. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Southern Stock Down 0.2 %

Southern stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $88.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,273,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,432,380. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.34. The company has a market cap of $96.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2,719.7% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,670,000 after buying an additional 841,435 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in Southern by 7,657.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 571,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,304,000 after buying an additional 563,785 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.