Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential downside of 2.97% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE SO opened at $87.60 on Friday. 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 has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $89.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 3.21 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Southern will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Southern

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

Institutional Trading of Southern

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 1,361.6% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 2,982 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,168,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 11.9% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 30,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 3,293 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $88,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Southern by 17.3% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 278,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $20,007,000 after purchasing an additional 41,161 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently 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.