Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Crosses Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $92.29 and traded as low as $91.28. Southern shares last traded at $91.4840, with a volume of 5,228,646 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $92.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $93.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $98.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.24.

Southern Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $105.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.29.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 72.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Uptick Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the first quarter. Uptick Partners LLC now owns 7,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 2.4% during the first quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 0.3% during the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,313,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 3.7% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.