BMO Capital Markets Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective cut by BMO Capital Markets from $99.00 to $97.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on SO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.27.

Southern Stock Down 2.7 %

SO traded down $2.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $88.54. The company had a trading volume of 6,817,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,060,107. The company has a market capitalization of $96.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. Southern has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after buying an additional 481,071 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Southern by 45.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after buying an additional 7,550,570 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Southern by 5.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,718,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $245,113,000 after acquiring an additional 145,810 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $197,192,000 after acquiring an additional 51,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Southern by 13.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,420,890 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $218,316,000 after acquiring an additional 279,304 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company Profile

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.