Barclays Boosts Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $83.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $71.00 to $83.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.

Southern Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $93.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $101.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $64.53 and a fifty-two week high of $93.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $88.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.64.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the second quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $512,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.