JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Price

Southern (NYSE:SO) had its target price boosted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $101.00 to $104.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price points to a potential upside of 8.59% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SO. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 target price on Southern in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.91.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $95.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,491,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,785,013. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $94.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.33. The company has a market capitalization of $107.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $83.80 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Southern will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Southern by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,587,589,000 after purchasing an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Southern by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Southern by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,266,000 after buying an additional 1,867,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 108,057,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,422,606,000 after buying an additional 1,643,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.