Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Evercore ISI Analyst Says

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective upped by analysts at Evercore ISI from $90.00 to $94.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “in-line” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 3.23% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.07.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

SO opened at $91.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.39. Southern has a 52 week low of $74.88 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $100.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SO. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $326,000. Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,626,000 after buying an additional 5,434 shares during the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Southern by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,983,000 after acquiring an additional 11,605 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Southern by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 237,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,556,000 after acquiring an additional 14,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Southern by 60.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 8,996 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.