Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.9118.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $95.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $107.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.40. Southern has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Southern

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.