Analysts Set The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Price Target at $90.14

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.14.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SO. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $83.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $84.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.31. Southern has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Southern by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 223,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,476,000 after purchasing an additional 43,681 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,853 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $764,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its position in Southern by 79.6% during the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 10,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 4,565 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Southern by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,192,000 after acquiring an additional 51,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,491,000. 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.