Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Raised to $77.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $77.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $75.48 on Friday. Southern has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $76.28. The company has a market capitalization of $82.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $70.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Southern will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,364,115. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 63.9% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.