Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Cut to $77.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from $80.00 to $77.00 in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 5.11% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on SO. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.36.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $73.26 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The stock has a market cap of $80.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.23 and its 200 day moving average is $69.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Southern will post 4 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.