Southern (NYSE:SO) Coverage Initiated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $94.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on SO. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $86.33.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $98.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. Southern has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $90.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% during the first quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.