Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Southern Company has an average “Hold” rating from 20 brokerages, with 11 holds, seven buys and two sells. The average analyst price target is $100.09, above the reported share price of $87.90.
• Southern’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations on earnings, reporting $1.13 EPS versus the $1.01 consensus, although revenue of $6.98 billion fell short of estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, or $3.04 annualized, representing a 3.5% yield and a 72.9% payout ratio.

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the twenty brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $100.0882.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Southern by 6.5% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,884 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $324,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,888,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Southern by 9,736.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 125,596,883 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,020,878,000 after purchasing an additional 124,319,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 197.9% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,269 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 17,451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of SO stock opened at $87.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $101.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $93.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.26.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern's payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

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