Southern (NYSE:SO) Price Target Cut to $92.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $92.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SO has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.08.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $93.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $103.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.41. Southern has a 1 year low of $80.46 and a 1 year high of $96.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.27.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Investors Research Corp boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.