Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price Target Lowered at KeyCorp

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at KeyCorp from $79.00 to $74.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. KeyCorp’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 14.96% from the company’s previous close.

SO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.81.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $87.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $100.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $87.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.31. Southern has a 12-month low of $81.69 and a 12-month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Perpetual Ltd raised its position in shares of Southern by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Woodstock Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 2.5% in the third quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 67,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Southern by 79.7% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 16,339 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 7,246 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 80.9% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Trust Services Inc. now owns 1,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Southern by 5.4% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 139,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,311,000 after purchasing an additional 7,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is a diversified energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its operating subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s regulated electric utilities include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve residential, commercial and industrial customers across the southeastern United States. The company’s portfolio includes coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydroelectric and renewable generation assets.