Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Stock Now Rated "Hold" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Southern Company has a consensus “Hold” rating from 19 analysts: nine holds, eight buys, and two sells. The average 12-month price target is $98.24.
• Several firms recently lowered their price targets, including Morgan Stanley to $84, KeyCorp to $74, and Jefferies to $95, while Citigroup maintained a “Buy” rating with a reduced $104 target.
• Southern reported quarterly EPS of $1.13, ahead of the $1.01 estimate, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing a 3.3% annualized yield.

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $98.24.

SO has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Southern from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $114.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Southern Price Performance

SO opened at $93.01 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $87.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.31. Southern has a one year low of $81.69 and a one year high of $99.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Evergreen Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Bullseye Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the second quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern's electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company's generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.

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