Southern (NYSE:SO) Rating Lowered to “Sector Perform” at Scotiabank

Southern (NYSE:SO) was downgraded by Scotiabank from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $99.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target indicates a potential upside of 4.70% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also commented on SO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of 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, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.08.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $94.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $104.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $96.44.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after buying an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,377,494,000 after acquiring an additional 241,572 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Southern during the second quarter valued at about $1,179,715,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Southern by 1.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,003,419,000 after purchasing an additional 107,394 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $621,567,000 after purchasing an additional 87,891 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.