Southern (NYSE:SO) Now Covered by Analysts at Truist Financial

Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $103.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 target price on Southern and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.08.

Southern Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of SO stock opened at $92.04 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.19. Southern has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.85 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 75.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the third quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,485,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.