Southern (NYSE:SO) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Southern from $101.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective 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. DA Davidson set a $98.00 target price on Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.32.

Southern Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:SO opened at $93.51 on Friday. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $81.69 and a fifty-two week high of $99.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.50.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.23. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $8.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.70 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sterling Spainhour, Jr. sold 3,333 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.81, for a total value of $306,002.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 31,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,927,453.66. The trade was a 9.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth $737,256,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth about $264,829,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth about $191,120,000. Energy Income Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $166,114,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $157,217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

Southern Company is an energy holding company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, it generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides natural gas service, primarily across the southeastern United States.

Its electric utility businesses include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers in their respective states. Southern Company also owns Southern Power, which develops and operates wholesale power generation assets, and Southern Company Gas, whose businesses distribute natural gas to customers in several states.

Formed in 1945, Southern Company has grown from a regional electric utility holding company into a diversified energy provider.