Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Raised to $90.00

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $83.00 to $90.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Barclays's price target would indicate a potential downside of 1.67% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on SO. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.54.

Southern Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $1.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $91.53. 1,188,206 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,501,454. Southern has a 1-year low of $71.66 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.27.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Investors Research Corp boosted its position in Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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