UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $94.00 to $97.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SO has been the topic of several other research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.46.

Southern Stock Down 0.8 %

SO opened at $89.21 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. Southern has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $97.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SO. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $302,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,439,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its holdings in Southern by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 20,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,869,000 after buying an additional 2,725 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 105,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,483,000 after buying an additional 22,553 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 45,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,075,000 after buying an additional 5,266 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.