Morgan Stanley Lowers Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target to $85.00

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock opened at $88.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Southern has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $89.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.86. The company has a market cap of $96.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value 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 trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in Southern by 149.5% in the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Southern by 219.4% in the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 6,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $455,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.