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

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.0294.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Equitable Trust Co. grew its stake in Southern by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 34,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 6,843 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 5.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 42,531 shares in the last quarter. Shelton Capital Management grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 141,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $86.25 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $93.15 and its 200 day moving average is $92.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.39 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.27%.

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.