Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Receives $98.08 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $98.0833.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho set a $104.00 price target on Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Southern from $104.00 to $93.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Donaldson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 2,785.8% in the third quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 563,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,358,000 after buying an additional 543,517 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth about $1,813,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Southern during the third quarter worth about $4,852,000. Finally, Shelton Capital Management grew its holdings in Southern by 700.6% during the second quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 161,618 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,841,000 after acquiring an additional 141,430 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:SO opened at $98.31 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.32%.

Southern Company Profile

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.