Southern (NYSE:SO) PT Raised to $73.00 at Bank of America

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Bank of America from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 0.64% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on SO. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

SO stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.47. 2,534,651 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,643,851. The company has a market capitalization of $80.42 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.18.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake 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 last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.