Southern (NYSE:SO) Stock Rating Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $94.00 price target on the utilities provider's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.67% from the stock's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Scotiabank raised their target price 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 restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

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Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.91 on Tuesday, reaching $89.80. The stock had a trading volume of 4,021,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,560,696. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $98.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. Southern has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $88.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.27.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Gleason Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 16,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Fiduciary Planning LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Constitution Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 13,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Southern in the first quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.