Southern (NYSE:SO) Downgraded by Wolfe Research to “Peer Perform”

Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports.

SO has been the topic of several other reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America upped their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $80.33.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $87.38. 1,557,931 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,505,312. Southern has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $89.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.