Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Raised to $95.00 at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho has raised the price target for Southern (NYSE:SO) from $93.00 to $95.00, maintaining a "neutral" rating on the stock.
• Southern's stock has shown a yearly revenue increase of 17.0%, with a reported EPS of $1.23, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.20.
• Insider trading activity included CEO Kimberly S. Greene selling 13,158 shares of Southern stock at an average price of $95.00, representing a 12.32% decrease in her holdings.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Mizuho from $93.00 to $95.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Mizuho's target price would suggest a potential downside of 0.34% from the company's current price.

SO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.20.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.33. The stock had a trading volume of 2,700,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,169,055. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $91.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.38. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $80.46 and a fifty-two week high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its stake in Southern by 1,428.6% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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