Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed on Southern Company, with 20 analysts averaging a "Hold" rating. The consensus 1-year price target is about $99.56, modestly above the recent share price.
• Southern recently beat quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $1.32 EPS versus the $1.21 consensus, and revenue of $8.40 billion versus expectations of $8.07 billion. Revenue rose 8% year over year.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 from $0.74, equal to an annualized payout of $3.04 and a yield of about 3.3%. Insider selling was also notable, including shares sold by the CEO and an EVP in recent transactions.

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $99.5588.

SO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore raised shares of Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. KeyCorp raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,381,344,000 after purchasing an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,111,450,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $92.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $104.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.23 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 77.35%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.