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

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on SO. Barclays set a $70.00 price objective on Southern in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen cut Southern from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.57.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock opened at $98.44 on Wednesday. Southern has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $100.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.43.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 15.10%.The business had revenue of $6.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 275.0% in the second quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co increased its holdings in Southern by 1,428.6% in the second quarter. Advantage Trust Co now owns 321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Southern

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.