Wells Fargo & Company Increases Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $77.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $77.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an outperform rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $74.71.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.47. 8,062,119 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,777,350. Southern has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $76.28. The company has a market cap of $82.61 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Southern will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock worth $1,424,402 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Rockline Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $1,945,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 65,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,691 shares during the period. Zullo Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $301,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.