Southern (NYSE:SO) Given New $77.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective trimmed by Scotiabank from $80.00 to $77.00 in a research report report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on SO. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an outperform rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $74.37 on Monday. Southern has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The stock has a market cap of $81.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.31.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $631,068,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,707,845 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,096,988 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,838,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $128,413,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently 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.