Stock Update (NYSE:SO): Southern Company subsidiary awarded grant to lead advanced nuclear technology development

[PR Newswire] – ATLANTA, Jan. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Southern Company today announced it has been awarded up to $40 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to explore, develop and demonstrate advanced nuclear reactor technologies through subsidiary Southern Company Services. The effort will be managed through a new public-private partnership with TerraPower, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Electric Power Research Institute and Vanderbilt University. Housed at the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the research will bolster the development of molten chloride fast reactors (MCFR), an advanced concept for nuclear generation. Read more on this. Southern Company (SO) , valued at $42.62B, opened this morning at $46.74. Looking at the stock, its one day range is $46.59 to $47.24 with the price of the stock fluctuating between $41.40 to $53.16 over the last 52 weeks. SO shares are currently priced at 16.48x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 4.67x forward p/e ratio. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $2.17 per share annually in dividends, yielding 4.65%. According to a consensus of 14 analysts, the earnings estimate of $0.43 per share would be $0.05 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.00 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $2.86 which would be a $0.06 better than last year’s full-year earnings. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $4.48 Billion. If realized, that would be a 10.62% increase over the year-ago quarter. Recently, Mizuho Initiated SO at Buy (Apr 24, 2015). Previously, Guggenheim Initiated SO at to Neutral. The average price target for SO shares by the analysts covering the stock is $46.54, which is 0.43% below where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:SO) Similar Articles: Company Update: The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Southern Company subsidiary announces pricing of $1 billion of Green Bonds Stock Update (NYSE:SO): Southern Company subsidiary to acquire second wind project, surpassing 1,600 MW of renewable generation development Company Update: The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Southern Company subsidiary acquires system’s largest solar project