Southern (NYSE:SO) Lowered to “Neutral” at Mizuho

Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Mizuho currently has $90.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on SO. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a sector outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $84.71.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.87 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $97.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. Southern has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $90.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $631,068,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,721,382,000 after acquiring an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $128,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,457,000 after acquiring an additional 934,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2,719.7% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,670,000 after acquiring an additional 841,435 shares during the last quarter. 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.