Southern (NYSE:SO) PT Raised to $77.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $77.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 1.52% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.71.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $75.85 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.39 and its 200 day moving average is $69.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.98.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after buying an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $301,000. 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.