Brokerages Set The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Target Price at $89.47

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $89.47.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $89.13 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.16. Southern has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Southern will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

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.