** Mizuho upgrades U.S. utility Southern Co SO.N to "outperform" from "neutral"; raises PT to $104 from $89
** New PT is 9.4% upside to the stock's last close
** Brokerage cites robust earnings growth with a significant pipeline of incremental opportunities
** SO on Thursday posted Q4 revenue of $6.9 billion, beating analysts' estimates of $6.4 billion — data compiled by LSEG
** Seven of 24 analysts rate stock "strong buy" or "buy", 15 "hold" and 2 "sell"; their median PT is $102.5
** Including session's move, SO up 8.8% YTD
(Reporting by Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru)
((Pragyan.Kalita@thomsonreuters.com))