Southern (NYSE:SO) Lowered to Neutral at UBS Group

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $76.00 target price on the utilities provider's stock, down from their previous target price of $78.00. UBS Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.49% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup began coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, December 8th. They set a "buy" rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.93 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $70.05. The stock had a trading volume of 6,207,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,586,086. The firm has a market cap of $76.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 4.45 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.69 and a 200-day moving average of $68.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business's revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Southern will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total transaction of $359,950.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 101,284 shares in the company, valued at $7,291,435.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.99, for a total value of $359,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 101,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,291,435.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,998 shares of company stock worth $1,806,063. 0.28% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Southern by 62.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.