Southern (NYSE:SO) PT Raised to $87.00 at Scotiabank

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $77.00 to $87.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price indicates a potential downside of 0.90% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $87.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,915,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,497,494. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.52 and a 200 day moving average of $73.90. Southern has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $89.22. The stock has a market cap of $95.99 billion, a PE ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 93,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,286,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.6% during the second quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 23,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,479 shares during the period. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 32.5% in the second quarter. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,135 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470 shares during the period. LMG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 2.9% in the second quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Square LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.7% in the second quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 25,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Southern

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.