Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Southern (NYSE:SO) to “Buy”

Southern (NYSE:SO) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday. The brokerage presently has a $100.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 13.15% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on SO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.64.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $88.38 on Thursday. Southern has a one year low of $76.96 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $97.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.29.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. The trade was a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

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