Southern (NYSE:SO) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 5.77% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.33.

Southern Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of SO opened at $88.87 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $97.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, 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 $90.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $86.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.65. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in shares of Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $785,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. SCP Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $548,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after buying an additional 5,018 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.