Southern (NYSE:SO) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $83.73 and last traded at $84.2790, with a volume of 864258 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $85.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. KeyCorp cut Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.85.

Southern Trading Down 1.9%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $91.13 and its 200-day moving average is $93.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $96.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.33.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Southern Company will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 72.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bullseye Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth $26,000. Rench Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Southern by 0.7% in the second quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 45,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,378,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Core Capital Management & Research inc. bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,398,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 112,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,745,000 after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares during the period. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is an energy holding company that provides electricity and natural gas services through a group of regulated utility subsidiaries. Its electric utilities generate, transmit and distribute power to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while its gas businesses distribute natural gas and provide related energy services.

The company’s principal electric subsidiaries include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power. Southern Company also operates Southern Nuclear, which manages the company’s nuclear generation interests, including the Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia.