Southern (NYSE:SO) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday.

SO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho set a $106.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Friday. Truist Financial cut their target price on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.26.

Southern Stock Down 1.6%

SO stock opened at $93.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $94.56 and a 200-day moving average of $94.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. Southern has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Southern will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Ankerstar Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.