Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock

Key Points

• Scotiabank has raised its target price for Southern stock from $98.00 to $99.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.25% from the company's last close.
• Southern's quarterly earnings report revealed an EPS of $0.91, which missed estimates by $0.08, despite revenue exceeding expectations at $6.97 billion.
• Institutional investors have shown increased confidence, with significant stake increases, such as Prudential PLC boosting its stake by 65.7% in the fourth quarter.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) had its target price upped by research analysts at Scotiabank from $98.00 to $99.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "sector outperform" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Scotiabank's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.25% from the company's previous close.

SO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.27.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.96. 7,489,439 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,203,702. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. Southern has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company's 50 day moving average price is $91.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.32.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Westpac Banking Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 22,437 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 93.4% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 21,430 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,764,000 after acquiring an additional 10,348 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Southern by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,451 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,514,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Prudential PLC increased its stake in Southern by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 79,505 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,545,000 after buying an additional 31,530 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Moore & CO. increased its stake in Southern by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 20,896 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,720,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Company Profile

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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