Southern (NYSE:SO) Research Coverage Started at HSBC

HSBC started coverage on shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $99.50 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

SO has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Southern from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $114.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.24.

Southern Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of SO stock opened at $93.01 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.59. Southern has a 1 year low of $81.69 and a 1 year high of $99.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.31.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Uptick Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $734,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.4% during the first quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.3% in the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.