Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Southern (NYSE:SO - Free Report) had its target price upped by UBS Group from $94.00 to $97.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.01 on Friday, reaching $89.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,229,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,136,283. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.69 and a 200-day moving average of $87.24. Southern has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $98.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

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Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This 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 quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. 111 Capital acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $608,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in Southern by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 6,748 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the period. Members Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $387,000. Finally, Northstar Financial Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $564,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.