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

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.0833.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore upgraded Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Southern by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Southern by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Sara Bay Financial grew its stake in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sara Bay Financial now owns 4,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.1% during 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 in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $98.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $91.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.58. Southern has a 1-year low of $83.09 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.41 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 75.32%.

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.