Scotiabank Increases Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $98.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target hoisted by investment analysts at Scotiabank from $96.00 to $98.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 17.82% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $83.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. Southern has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management bought a new position in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $54,000. 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.