Bank of America Boosts Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $73.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective lifted by Bank of America from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on SO. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group cut Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Down 1.6 %

Southern stock opened at $73.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.49. Southern has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $75.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $69.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.36.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Southern will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $631,068,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Southern by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,153,065,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707,845 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 38.5% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $488,461,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 5.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,518,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $128,413,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.