Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price Target Lowered at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its price objective decreased by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $101.00 to $94.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 6.41% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on SO. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $89.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Southern from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their target price on Southern from $114.00 to $104.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.25.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded up $1.29 on Tuesday, reaching $88.33. The stock had a trading volume of 3,952,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,801,007. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.99 and a 200-day moving average of $92.31. The company has a market capitalization of $101.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.31. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $81.69 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.23 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. Southern’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SO. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Southern by 4.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,380,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,895,000 after buying an additional 392,210 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at $737,256,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 9.8% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,681,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,793,000 after buying an additional 508,149 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 7.2% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,231,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,895,000 after buying an additional 216,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,932,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,715,000 after buying an additional 54,111 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

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.