The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $90.14.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $83.16 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $87.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.74. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $91.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 168.1% in the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth $54,000. 64.10% of the stock is 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.