Southern (NYSE:SO) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $100.00 target price on the utilities provider's stock, down from their prior target price of $102.00. Jefferies Financial Group's target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.27% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on SO. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.64.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $88.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,725,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,531,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $89.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.29. The company has a market cap of $97.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 436,642 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,656,000 after buying an additional 11,909 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC grew its position in Southern by 87.2% in the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 4,617 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Southern by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 121,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,035,000 after buying an additional 20,201 shares during the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,546 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,969,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.