The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.71.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,126 shares of company stock worth $1,364,115. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $77.63 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.82. The firm has a market cap of $84.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. Southern has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $77.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Analysts expect that Southern will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.