Southern (NYSE:SO) Upgraded by TD Cowen to Strong-Buy Rating

Key Points

• Southern Company has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by TD Cowen, highlighting a positive consensus from some analysts following recent financial performance.
• Despite the upgrade, some firms like JPMorgan and Wall Street Zen have different views, with price targets ranging from $70 to $103 and ratings from "sell" to "buy."
• Southern Company reported a net margin of 15.10% and revenue of $6.97 billion in its last quarter, though it missed earnings expectations.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at TD Cowen to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI began coverage on Southern in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an "in-line" rating and a $103.00 price objective for the company. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on Southern in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.57.

Southern Stock Down 1.3%

SO opened at $98.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.43. Southern has a 12 month low of $80.46 and a 12 month high of $100.84.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter 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 anticipate that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth $1,179,715,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the first quarter worth $510,229,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 9,099.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the second quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,725,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694,066 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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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