Bank of America Boosts Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $73.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target raised by Bank of America from $70.00 to $73.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and set a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $74.36.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $73.26 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $80.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Southern will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 3,628.6% in the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.