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

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $85.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SO has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim increased their target price on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Mizuho cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.47.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock opened at $87.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. Southern has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.79.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.04 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid 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 yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade 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 Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sculati Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 76,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,940,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 2,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 162,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,697,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Southern Company Profile

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.