Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price Expected to Rise, UBS Group Analyst Says

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at UBS Group from $94.00 to $97.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 8.73% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.46.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $89.21 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $86.69 and a 200-day moving average of $87.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. Southern has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last quarter. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $302,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,439,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 20,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,869,000 after buying an additional 2,725 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 105,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,483,000 after buying an additional 22,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 45,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,075,000 after buying an additional 5,266 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.