Mizuho Lowers Southern (NYSE:SO) to Neutral

Mizuho cut shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Mizuho currently has $90.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on SO. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $84.71.

Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

SO opened at $89.01 on Monday. Southern has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $90.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.58. The firm has a market cap of $97.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,000. SCP Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $548,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,559,000 after acquiring an additional 5,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.