Southern Company upgraded to Outperform from Sector Perform at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded Southern Company to Outperform from Sector Perform with a $70 price target. Though the valuation isn’t cheap following relative outperformance year-to-date and over the past several years, Scotiabank sees further relative upside as justified as the valuation is only slightly richer than the group average, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The biggest regulatory uncertainty is the prudence review for Vogtle, which should be “uneventful” and for which a comprehensive settlement has been reached, the firm says.