Brokerages Set Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) PT at $99.91

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SOGet Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $99.9118.

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Mizuho set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southern

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $655,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Southern by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,320,000 after purchasing an additional 46,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after buying an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 2.1%

SO stock opened at $95.81 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $94.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $108.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.34. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SOGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.35%.

About Southern

(Get Free Report)

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

Featured Articles

Analyst Recommendations for Southern (NYSE:SO)

Receive News & Ratings for Southern Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Southern and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.