Southern (NYSE:SO) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 2.97% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

Southern stock opened at $87.60 on Friday. Southern has a 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.74. The firm has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SO. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $576,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 149.5% in the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares during the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $455,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.