南方航空（纽约证券交易所代码：SO）在StockNews.com上调至持|南方航空_新浪财经

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Thursday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on SO. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $71.64.

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Southern Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $69.34 on Thursday. Southern has a 12-month low of $58.85 and a 12-month high of $80.57. The company has a market cap of $75.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.14, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The company's 50-day moving average price is $66.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.00.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The utilities provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. Southern had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The firm had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total value of $85,381.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,832,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 1,282 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.60, for a total transaction of $85,381.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,512 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,832,299.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total transaction of $1,032,038.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at $8,569,766.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,680 shares of company stock valued at $1,174,768 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $369,131,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Southern by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,002,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,284,352,000 after purchasing an additional 3,653,841 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $124,282,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 94,652,372 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,436,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,612 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.78% of the company's stock.

Southern Company Profile

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.