Morgan Stanley Boosts Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $82.00

Southern (NYSE:SO - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SO. Bank of America boosted their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $86.60.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

SO traded down $0.36 on Wednesday, hitting $89.37. The company had a trading volume of 3,457,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,474,449. Southern has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $90.85. The firm has a market cap of $97.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.05, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. The company's fifty day moving average price is $86.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm's revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $16,067,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 382.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,998,000 after acquiring an additional 33,120 shares during the period. Nwam LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $890,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,202 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 514,766 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,095,000 after purchasing an additional 12,849 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.