StockNews.com 将南方航空（纽约证券交易所代码：SO）升级至 “持有”_新浪财经

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

SO has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $61.00 to $57.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 21st. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Southern from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, December 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $71.64.

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Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $69.58 on Thursday. Southern has a 52-week low of $58.85 and a 52-week high of $80.57. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $75.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.49.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.02. Southern had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 12.40%. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 22.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Southern will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 82.93%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total value of $57,348.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,484,791.29. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,546 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.95, for a total value of $1,032,038.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 120,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,569,766.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 852 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.31, for a total transaction of $57,348.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,059 shares in the company, valued at $1,484,791.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,680 shares of company stock valued at $1,174,768. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY now owns 21,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,570,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in Southern by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 23,652 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 5,076 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. now owns 38,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,757,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Finally, Burleson & Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Burleson & Company LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.78% of the company's stock.

About Southern

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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.