Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Southern (NYSE:SO) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

SO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on Southern from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $97.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.03.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO opened at $86.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Southern has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The stock has a market cap of $94.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $93.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.48.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $7.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.04 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 275.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Advantage Trust Co increased its position in shares of Southern by 1,428.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.