Analysts Set Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) PT at $99.03

by · The Cerbat Gem

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.0294.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Southern from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. BTIG Research started coverage on Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $97.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southern

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in Southern by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,171,000 after purchasing an additional 6,843 shares during the period. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 7,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.5% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 822,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,521,000 after buying an additional 42,531 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 700.6% in the second quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 161,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,841,000 after acquiring an additional 141,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,725,187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,694,066 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of SO opened at $85.48 on Friday. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $92.80 and a 200 day moving average of $92.43. The firm has a market cap of $94.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.27%.

Southern Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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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