Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $89.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $89.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SO. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $80.33.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $87.33. The stock had a trading volume of 1,455,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,504,972. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. Southern has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $89.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.