Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Raised to $94.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $83.00 to $94.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank cut their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $80.33.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $88.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,196,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,487. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. Southern has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $89.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.95%. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SO. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,583 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in Southern by 19.6% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 387,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,851,000 after acquiring an additional 63,647 shares in the last quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the second quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 7,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.8% during the second quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 8,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $665,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 390,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,265,000 after purchasing an additional 11,530 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is 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.