Barclays Increases Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $83.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $71.00 to $83.00 in a report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $93.25 on Tuesday. Southern has a 12 month low of $64.53 and a 12 month high of $93.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 68.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI boosted its stake in Southern by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 62,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,673,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $260,000. AA Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Southern by 2.2% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,037,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,531,000 after acquiring an additional 22,330 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Southern by 5.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $245,113,000 after acquiring an additional 145,810 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.