Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Southern Co (NYSE:SO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday morning, The Fly reports.

Shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) traded up 0.77% during trading on Tuesday, hitting $48.65. 372,029 shares of the stock traded hands. The company has a 50-day moving average of $46.77 and a 200-day moving average of $45.01. The firm has a market cap of $44.22 billion and a P/E ratio of 18.61. Southern has a 52 week low of $41.40 and a 52 week high of $52.49.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 16th will be paid a $0.5425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 11th. This represents a $2.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%.

In other news, COO Kimberly S. Greene sold 6,111 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.84, for a total value of $274,017.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 38,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,723,066.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Art P. Beattie sold 46,795 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $2,246,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 12,553 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,544. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Several hedge funds recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in Southern by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 313,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,678,000 after buying an additional 11,756 shares in the last quarter. Hexavest Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Hexavest Inc. now owns 3,833,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,353,000 after buying an additional 421,557 shares in the last quarter. BB&T Corp raised its stake in Southern by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. BB&T Corp now owns 168,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,907,000 after buying an additional 3,651 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 1,167,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,614,000 after buying an additional 5,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. now owns 55,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after buying an additional 10,400 shares in the last quarter.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Southern from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Barclays restated a hold rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up from $47.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, January 4th. Jefferies Group upgraded Southern from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $50.50 in a report on Thursday, November 26th. SunTrust lowered their target price on Southern from $46.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, December 14th. Finally, Macquarie lifted their target price on Southern from $45.50 to $47.00 in a report on Thursday, January 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $48.39.

Southern Company is an operating public utility company. The primary business of the Southern Company is electricity sales by the traditional operating companies and Southern Power. Southern Company’s business segments are the sale of electricity by the four traditional operating companies and Southern Power. The four traditional operating companies, including Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power and Mississippi Power, are vertically integrated utilities providing electric service in four Southeastern states. Southern Company owns all of the common stock of Southern Power Company, which is also an operating public utility company. Southern Power constructs, acquires, owns, and manages generation assets, including renewable energy projects, and sells electricity at market-based rates in the wholesale market. The Company also operates the All Other segment.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:SO

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