Southern (NYSE:SO) PT Raised to $82.00 at Morgan Stanley

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $78.00 to $82.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential downside of 7.79% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.60.

Southern Stock Down 0.5 %

Southern stock opened at $88.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Southern has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $90.85. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.32.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 in the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.