Southern Company (The) (SO) – What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $98.24.

SO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho set a $106.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $99.50 target price for the company.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 130,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,827,000 after purchasing an additional 37,247 shares in the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in Southern by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 11,448 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Southern by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 92,289 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,908,000 after acquiring an additional 14,798 shares during the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,908,000. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,059,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.8%

SO stock opened at $93.70 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $87.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.35. The company has a market cap of $107.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.31. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $81.69 and a fifty-two week high of $99.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.90%.

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.