Barclays Boosts Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $66.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price increased by Barclays from $65.00 to $66.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $74.07.

Southern Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE SO opened at $70.57 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $77.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.49. Southern has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $75.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $68.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.99.

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

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.