Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Raised to $97.00 at UBS Group

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective upped by UBS Group from $94.00 to $97.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SO has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank raised 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. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.46.

Southern Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE SO opened at $89.21 on Friday. Southern has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a market capitalization of $97.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $86.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced 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 net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. The trade was 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 worth $4,348,784 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 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.