The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.14.

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $1,945,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $1,288,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,624,000 after acquiring an additional 2,691 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

SO opened at $77.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.31. Southern has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $80.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

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.