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

Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $90.14.

A number of research firms have weighed in on SO. Guggenheim raised their price target on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $82.15. The stock had a trading volume of 3,693,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,658,744. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $85.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. Southern has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,772,000 after buying an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,033,000 after buying an additional 140,151 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $292,679,000 after buying an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 219.4% during the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 6,162 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.