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

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.5588.

Several research analysts have commented on SO shares. Cowen began coverage on Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of Southern to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SO. Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in Southern by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the second quarter worth $2,352,000. Investors Research Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,982.6% during the second quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 5,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 5,353 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 35.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 116,059 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,672,000 after buying an additional 30,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.7% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 154,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,180,000 after buying an additional 2,629 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

SO stock opened at $91.39 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.51. Southern has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

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.