Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Mizuho from $83.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Mizuho’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.91% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank increased 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. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.79.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $84.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,535,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,128,795. The company has a market capitalization of $92.30 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.53. Southern has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $83.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.