Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $91.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,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 upside of 1.92% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on SO. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.00.

Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

SO stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $89.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,244,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,084,244. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $97.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. Southern has a twelve month low of $67.53 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. As a group, research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. 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.