The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Receives $76.60 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.60.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Argus raised their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th.

Southern Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $80.39. 4,539,737 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,770,790. Southern has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $80.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.16.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. Southern's revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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.