Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Southern Company has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 20 brokerages, with 12 hold ratings, 7 buy ratings, and 1 sell rating. The average 12-month price target is about $99.91.
• The company recently beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.32 EPS on $8.40 billion in revenue, both above estimates, and revenue rose 8.0% year over year. Analysts now expect full-year earnings of $4.57 per share.
• Southern also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.76 per share from $0.74, implying an annualized dividend of $3.04 and a yield of about 3.2%. Institutional ownership remains high at 64.10%.

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.9118.

Several research analysts have commented on SO shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Southern from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Southern from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th.

Southern Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of SO stock opened at $95.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $107.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.34. Southern has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $94.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern's payout ratio is 77.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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