NYSE:SOSouthern Stock Price, Forecast & News

$56.38

+1.37 (+2.49 %)

(As of 05/28/2020 11:17 AM ET)

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Today's Range

$55.52

Now: $56.38▼

$56.51

50-Day Range

$52.54

MA: $55.97▼

$60.33

52-Week Range

$41.96

Now: $56.38▼

$71.10

Volume1.01 million shs

Average Volume5.16 million shs

Market Capitalization$59.59 billion

P/E Ratio16.78

Dividend Yield4.68%

Beta0.44

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates in four segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services. The company also constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy facilities and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investments operations. It owns and/or operates 33 hydroelectric generating stations, 26 fossil fuel generating stations, 3 nuclear generating stations, 13 combined cycle/cogeneration stations, 40 solar facilities, 9 wind facilities, and 1 biomass facility; and constructs, operates, and maintains 75,200 miles of natural gas pipelines and 14 storage facilities with total capacity of 158 Bcf to provide natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company serves approximately 9 million electric and gas utility customers. It also provides products and services in the areas of distributed generation infrastructure, energy efficiency, and utility infrastructure. In addition, the company offers digital wireless communications services with various communication options, including push to talk, cellular service, text messaging, wireless Internet access, and wireless data. The Southern Company was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Beat the Market (BTM) Rank^™

3.0 Analyst's Opinion

Consensus Rating
Southern has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.00, and is based on 3 buy ratings, 10 hold ratings, and 3 sell ratings.
Price Target Upside/Downside
According to analysts' consensus price target of $62.11, Southern has a potential upside of 10.2% from its current price of $56.38.
Amount of Analyst Coverage
Southern has been the subject of 8 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

1.8 Community Rank

Outperform Votes
Southern has received 476 “outperform” votes. (Add your “outperform” vote.)
Underperform Votes
Southern has received 840 “underperform” votes. (Add your “underperform” vote.)
Community Sentiment
Southern has received 63.83% “underperform” votes from our community.

MarketBeat's community ratings are surveys of what our community members think about Southern and other stocks. Vote “Outperform” if you believe SO will outperform the S&P 500 over the long term. Vote “Underperform” if you believe SO will underperform the S&P 500 over the long term. You may vote once every thirty days.

3.3 Dividend Strength

Dividend Leadership
Southern is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 4.68%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.
Dividend Growth
Southern has been increasing its dividend for 18 years.
Dividend Coverage
The dividend payout ratio of Southern is 82.32 %. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.
Dividend Sustainability
Based on EPS estimates, Southern will have a dividend payout ratio of 77.34 % in the coming year. This indicates that Southern may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

1.0 Company Ownership

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling
In the past three months, Southern insiders have sold 360.18% more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $191,520.00 in company stock and sold $881,346.00 in company stock.
Percentage Held by Insiders
Only 0.39% of the stock of Southern is held by insiders.
Percentage Held by Institutions
58.88% of the stock of Southern is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

1.3 Earnings and Valuation

Earnings Growth
Earnings for Southern are expected to grow by 4.75% in the coming year, from $3.16 to $3.31 per share.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market
The P/E ratio of Southern is 16.78, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 14.88.
Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector
The P/E ratio of Southern is 16.78, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 28.79.
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
Southern has a PEG Ratio of 4.33. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.
Price to Book Value per Share Ratio
Southern has a P/B Ratio of 1.87. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Overall Beat the Market Rank^™

2.08 out of 5 stars

Industry, Sector and Symbol

Stock Exchange NYSE

Industry Electric services

Sub-IndustryElectric Utilities

SectorUtilities

Current SymbolNYSE:SO

Previous Symbol

CUSIP84258710

CIK92122

Webwww.southerncompany.com

Phone404-506-5000

Debt

Debt-to-Equity Ratio1.44

Current Ratio0.99

Quick Ratio0.78

Price-To-Earnings

Trailing P/E Ratio16.78

Forward P/E Ratio17.84

P/E Growth4.33

Sales & Book Value

Annual Sales$21.42 billion

Price / Sales2.78

Cash Flow$6.47 per share

Price / Cash Flow8.71

Book Value$30.19 per share

Price / Book1.87

Profitability

EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year)$3.11

Net Income$4.75 billion

Net Margins16.83%

Return on Equity10.57%

Return on Assets2.85%

Miscellaneous

Employees27,943

Outstanding Shares1,057,010,000

Market Cap$59.59 billion

Next Earnings Date7/29/2020 (Estimated)

OptionableOptionable

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Southern (NYSE:SO) Frequently Asked Questions

How has Southern's stock been impacted by COVID-19 (Coronavirus)?

Southern's stock was trading at $58.18 on March 11th, 2020 when Coronavirus (COVID-19) reached pandemic status according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Since then, SO shares have decreased by 3.1% and is now trading at $56.38. View which stocks have been most impacted by Coronavirus.

Do Wall Street analysts recommend investors buy shares of Southern?

16 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Southern in the last year. There are currently 3 sell ratings, 10 hold ratings and 3 buy ratings for the stock, resulting in a consensus recommendation of "Hold." View analyst ratings for Southern.

When is Southern's next earnings date?

Southern is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Wednesday, July 29th 2020. View our earnings forecast for Southern.

How were Southern's earnings last quarter?

Southern Co (NYSE:SO) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April, 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks' consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.07. The utilities provider had revenue of $5.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.45 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.83% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. View Southern's earnings history.

How often does Southern pay dividends? What is the dividend yield for Southern?

Southern announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.64 per share on Monday, June 8th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. View Southern's dividend history.

What price target have analysts set for SO?

16 equities research analysts have issued 12-month price targets for Southern's shares. Their forecasts range from $52.00 to $73.00. On average, they expect Southern's stock price to reach $62.11 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 10.2% from the stock's current price. View analysts' price targets for Southern.

Has Southern been receiving favorable news coverage?

News coverage about SO stock has trended somewhat negative recently, InfoTrie reports. The research group ranks the sentiment of press coverage by analyzing more than six thousand news and blog sources. The firm ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of -5 to 5, with scores closest to five being the most favorable. Southern earned a coverage optimism score of -1.7 on InfoTrie's scale. They also gave media headlines about the utilities provider a news buzz of 0.0 out of 10, meaning that recent press coverage is extremely unlikely to have an effect on the stock's share price in the near future. View the latest news aboutSouthern.

Who are some of Southern's key competitors?

Some companies that are related to Southern include NextEra Energy (NEE), Duke Energy (DUK), American Electric Power (AEP), Exelon (EXC), Xcel Energy (XEL), Eversource Energy (ES), FirstEnergy (FE), Edison International (EIX), PPL (PPL), Entergy (ETR), Pinnacle West Capital (PNW), OGE Energy (OGE), IDACORP (IDA), Hawaiian Electric Industries (HE) and Portland General Electric (POR). View all competitors.

What other stocks do shareholders of Southern own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other Southern investors own include AT&T (T), Verizon Communications (VZ), AbbVie (ABBV), Pfizer (PFE), Duke Energy (DUK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Altria Group (MO), Coca-Cola (KO), Exxon Mobil (XOM) and General Electric (GE).

Who are Southern's key executives?

Southern's management team includes the following people:

Mr. Thomas A. Fanning, Chairman, Pres & CEO (Age 62)
Mr. Andrew William Evans, Exec. VP & CFO (Age 52)
Mr. William Paul Bowers, Exec. VP (Age 63)
Mr. Mark A. Crosswhite, Exec. VP (Age 57)
Mr. Stephen E. Kuczynski, Chairman of Southern Nuclear Operating Co., CEO & Pres of Southern Nuclear Operating Co. (Age 57)

What is Southern's stock symbol?

Southern trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "SO."

Who are Southern's major shareholders?

Southern's stock is owned by a variety of retail and institutional investors. Top institutional shareholders include BlackRock Inc. (7.26%), State Street Corp (5.46%), Franklin Resources Inc. (2.56%), Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA (2.55%), Geode Capital Management LLC (1.42%) and Legal & General Group Plc (0.99%). Company insiders that own Southern stock include Ann P Daiss, Anthony F Earley Jr, Anthony L Wilson, Christopher C Womack, Ernest J Moniz, Henry A Clark III, James Y Kerr II, Kimberly S Greene, Mark A Crosswhite, Mark Lantrip, Stan W Connally, Stephen E Kuczynski, Thomas A Fanning and William P Bowers. View institutional ownership trends for Southern.

Which major investors are selling Southern stock?

SO stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Zimmer Partners LP, BlackRock Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Invesco Ltd., Bank of New York Mellon Corp, First Trust Advisors LP, APG Asset Management N.V., and Wellington Management Group LLP. Company insiders that have sold Southern company stock in the last year include Ann P Daiss, Anthony L Wilson, Christopher C Womack, James Y Kerr II, Mark A Crosswhite, Stan W Connally, Stephen E Kuczynski, Thomas A Fanning, and William P Bowers. View insider buying and selling activity for Southern.

Which major investors are buying Southern stock?

SO stock was bought by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Pictet Asset Management Ltd., Prudential PLC, APG Asset Management N.V., Swiss National Bank, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA, Nuveen Asset Management LLC, Advisor Group Holdings Inc., and State Street Corp. Company insiders that have bought Southern stock in the last two years include Anthony F Earley Jr, Ernest J Moniz, and Henry A Clark III. View insider buying and selling activity for Southern.

How do I buy shares of Southern?

Shares of SO can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.

What is Southern's stock price today?

One share of SO stock can currently be purchased for approximately $56.38.

How big of a company is Southern?

Southern has a market capitalization of $59.59 billion and generates $21.42 billion in revenue each year. The utilities provider earns $4.75 billion in net income (profit) each year or $3.11 on an earnings per share basis. Southern employs 27,943 workers across the globe.

What is Southern's official website?

The official website for Southern is www.southerncompany.com.

How can I contact Southern?

Southern's mailing address is 30 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard N.W., Atlanta GA, 30308. The utilities provider can be reached via phone at 404-506-5000 or via email at [email protected]

This page was last updated on 5/28/2020 by MarketBeat.com Staff