Guggenheim Downgrades Southern (NYSE:SO) to Neutral

Southern (NYSE:SO) was downgraded by equities researchers at Guggenheim from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 1.5 %

SO opened at $83.50 on Thursday. Southern has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.35. The firm has a market cap of $91.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Southern will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Columbus Macro LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.0% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 22,109 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,820,000 after buying an additional 10,090 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its holdings 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. Trust Point Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 12,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 85,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,049,000 after purchasing an additional 3,029 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holistic Planning LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.