The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $74.14.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $68.73 on Friday. Southern has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The stock has a market cap of $75.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $68.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,007,222.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,007,222.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,998 shares of company stock worth $1,446,113 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.