Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price target reduced by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $92.00 to $89.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “underweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential downside of 1.26% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on SO. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays cut their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.09.

Southern Trading Down 1.4%

SO traded down $1.29 on Friday, hitting $90.14. The company had a trading volume of 2,172,386 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,703,641. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $94.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.44. Southern has a 1 year low of $83.80 and a 1 year high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market cap of $103.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.34.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,443,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 99,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,667,000 after acquiring an additional 16,878 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $2,462,000. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 121.4% during the 4th quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,767,773 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $154,150,000 after acquiring an additional 969,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 50,628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,887,000 after acquiring an additional 11,448 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.