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

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.1471.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seaport Research Partners lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 29th.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total transaction of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SO. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $93.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $105.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern has a 12 month low of $83.80 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $93.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.12.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.