Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Rating Upgraded by Bank of America

Southern (NYSE:SO) was upgraded by research analysts at Bank of America from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on SO. StockNews.com started coverage on Southern in a research report on Saturday, August 19th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southern from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Barclays began coverage on Southern in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $68.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.44.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $68.60 on Wednesday. Southern has a 52-week low of $58.85 and a 52-week high of $79.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of $74.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.24, a PEG ratio of 4.66 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $69.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.94.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 9.86%. The company had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southern will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $99,904.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 72,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,878,289.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $99,904.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 72,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,878,289.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.30, for a total transaction of $341,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,512 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,537,569.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,490 shares of company stock worth $2,934,355. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. VitalStone Financial LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Tanglewood Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.85% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.