Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.0294.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI began coverage on Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 target price (up previously from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 17th. TD Cowen began coverage on Southern in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Southern by 320.3% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,548,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,179,425,000 after purchasing an additional 25,567,431 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $1,179,715,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter worth $510,229,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $406,011,000 after buying an additional 4,373,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $87.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day moving average is $93.32 and its 200 day moving average is $92.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.75. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.04 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is 73.27%.

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.