Southern (NYSE:SO) Hits New 52-Week Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• Southern shares fell to a new 52-week low of $83.73, trading below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The stock was recently down 1.9%.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans toward caution: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $99.85 target price, while several firms lowered targets or assigned underweight ratings.
• Southern reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $1.13, although revenue missed estimates. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing a 3.6% yield.

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $83.73 and last traded at $84.2790, with a volume of 864258 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $85.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $99.85.

Southern Stock Down 1.9%

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $91.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.53. The company has a market capitalization of $96.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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 (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bullseye Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Rench Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 45,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,378,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,398,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 4.0% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 112,262 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,745,000 after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares during the period. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 3.5% in the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 6,221 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an energy holding company that provides electricity and natural gas services through a group of regulated utility subsidiaries. Its electric utilities generate, transmit and distribute power to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while its gas businesses distribute natural gas and provide related energy services.

The company's principal electric subsidiaries include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power. Southern Company also operates Southern Nuclear, which manages the company's nuclear generation interests, including the Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia.

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