Analysts Set The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) PT at $76.50

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.50.

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,026 shares of company stock worth $2,151,644 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,067,000. Summit Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,288,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 382.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,998,000 after buying an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $82.17 on Tuesday. Southern has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $83.46. The firm has a market cap of $89.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.55. 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

About Southern

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.