Southern (NYSE:SO) Now Covered by Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist Financial initiated coverage on Southern with a Hold rating and a $103 price target, implying roughly a 10.13% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst consensus remains a Hold with an average target of $98.69, based on seven Buys, thirteen Holds and one Sell.
• Southern posted quarterly EPS of $0.55 (miss vs. $0.56) while revenue beat at $6.98 billion (+10.1% YoY), and insiders — including CEO Kimberly Greene — recently sold shares (CEO 25,000 shares), leaving insiders with 0.16% ownership.

Equities researchers at Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "hold" rating and a $103.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. Truist Financial's target price indicates a potential upside of 10.13% from the stock's previous close.

SO has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of Southern from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.69.

Southern Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $105.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.41. Southern has a 52-week low of $83.09 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $95.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.20.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. Analysts expect that Southern will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Southern

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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