Southern (NYSE:SO - Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Barclays from $90.00 to $91.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider's stock.
Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.20.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southern
Southern Stock Up 0.8%
SO traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $94.09. 1,608,789 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,722,522. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $89.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.43. The company has a market cap of $103.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $94.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southern Increases Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is currently 70.64%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Investors Research Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Southern Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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