Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Receives $99.56 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.3824.

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $91.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.82. Southern has a 12-month low of $83.80 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SO. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2,785.8% in the 3rd quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 563,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,358,000 after buying an additional 543,517 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 97,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after buying an additional 11,460 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,753,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,966,000 after acquiring an additional 47,451 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 71,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,777,000 after acquiring an additional 27,920 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.