Southern (NYSE:SO) PT Raised to $73.00 at Bank of America

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target upped by Bank of America from $70.00 to $73.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 0.64% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $73.47. 2,534,651 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,643,851. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $69.11 and its 200-day moving average is $69.18. The company has a market cap of $80.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Southern will post 4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $631,068,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Southern by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,153,065,000 after purchasing an additional 5,707,845 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,906,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,518,045,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth $128,413,000. 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.