Southern (NYSE:SO) PT Lowered to $77.00 at Scotiabank

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target reduced by Scotiabank from $80.00 to $77.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on SO. Barclays boosted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an outperform rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $73.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. Southern has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $75.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.35 and a 200 day moving average of $69.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Southern will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction 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 approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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 acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the period. 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.