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

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

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.41 on Friday. Southern has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $96.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $89.70 and its 200-day moving average is $84.86. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Southern will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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