Southern (NYSE:SO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on SO. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. KeyCorp cut shares of Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.85.

Southern Stock Down 0.2%

Southern stock opened at $85.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $98.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a fifty day moving average of $91.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.62. Southern has a twelve month low of $83.80 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%.The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Bullseye Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is an energy holding company that provides electricity and natural gas services through a group of regulated utility subsidiaries. Its electric utilities generate, transmit and distribute power to residential, commercial and industrial customers, while its gas businesses distribute natural gas and provide related energy services.

The company’s principal electric subsidiaries include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power. Southern Company also operates Southern Nuclear, which manages the company’s nuclear generation interests, including the Vogtle nuclear expansion in Georgia.