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

Key Points

• Analysts at Morgan Stanley have cut the price target for Southern (NYSE:SO) from $94.00 to $92.00, indicating a potential downside of 1.76% from the current stock price.
• The consensus rating for Southern's stock is currently a "Hold", with an average price target of $95.08, as evaluated by multiple equities analysts.
• Southern recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.91, missing analysts' expectations by $0.08, while showing a year-over-year revenue growth of 7.9%.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $92.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would suggest a potential downside of 1.76% from the stock's current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their target price 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 upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $95.08.

Southern Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:SO traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $93.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,911,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,055,703. 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 market cap of $103.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $93.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.27. Southern has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) 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). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter worth about $1,179,715,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 9,099.6% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,421,331 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $406,011,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373,271 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 11,230.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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