The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Receives $74.14 Consensus PT from Analysts

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $74.07.

Several research firms recently issued reports on SO. UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays upped 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its stake in Southern by 2.5% during the first quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 393,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,200,000 after purchasing an additional 9,481 shares during the last quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 358.5% in the 1st quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 26,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after acquiring an additional 20,888 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 5,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 31.7% in the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,060 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $148,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

SO opened at $67.76 on Friday. Southern has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.97.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.14%.

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.