Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays has raised its price target for Southern Company from $91.00 to $98.00, indicating a potential downside of 1.25% from the previous close, while maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock.
• Southern Company's most recent quarterly earnings reported $0.91 earnings per share, which fell short of analysts' expectations of $0.99, despite a revenue increase to $6.97 billion.
• Recent stock activity shows Southern shares traded at $99.24, highlighting the company's stable performance with a market capitalization of $109.17 billion and a PE ratio of 25.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by stock analysts at Barclays from $91.00 to $98.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Barclays's price target suggests a potential downside of 1.25% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $96.85.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $1.16 on Tuesday, reaching $99.24. The stock had a trading volume of 1,451,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,072,940. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.17 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.67 and a 200 day moving average of $91.79. Southern has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $99.67.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business's revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 EPS. 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 expect that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SO. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Southern by 25.6% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,560,000 after acquiring an additional 3,461 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Southern by 14.4% in the first quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 1,769 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP grew its stake in Southern by 4.6% in the first quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 13,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.7% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 387,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,659,000 after purchasing an additional 6,460 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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