Brokerages Set The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Target Price at $73.46

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $73.46.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Citigroup started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, December 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total value of $359,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,291,435.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total value of $359,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,291,435.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,007,222.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,998 shares of company stock worth $1,806,063 in the last ninety days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,572,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,444,343,000 after acquiring an additional 352,023 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,816,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,387,945,000 after acquiring an additional 452,511 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,153,065,000 after buying an additional 5,707,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,070,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,128,982,000 after buying an additional 642,737 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $69.29 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $75.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49. Southern has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $68.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.82.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Southern will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.04%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.14%.

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.