The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $91.46.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 13,236 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded down $0.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $91.06. The company had a trading volume of 303,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,491,295. Southern has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.29. 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 cap of $99.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

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.