Southern (SO) Now Covered by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Southern (NYSE:SO) in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set an “underweight” rating and a $46.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s price target points to a potential upside of 2.59% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on SO. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 3rd. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. SunTrust Banks restated a “hold” rating and set a $52.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 20th. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $56.00 in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.20.

Shares of Southern (NYSE SO) opened at $44.84 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45,414.17, a P/E ratio of 80.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Southern has a 1-year low of $44.44 and a 1-year high of $53.51.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 2.59%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. equities analysts anticipate that Southern will post 2.96 EPS for the current year.

In related news, insider Ann P. Daiss sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.28, for a total transaction of $261,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,558.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Art P. Beattie sold 46,941 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total value of $2,464,402.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,123,435. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 128,662 shares of company stock valued at $6,772,438. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in Southern by 0.6% in the second quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. South Texas Money Management Ltd. boosted its position in Southern by 0.3% in the second quarter. South Texas Money Management Ltd. now owns 7,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. WMS Partners LLC boosted its position in Southern by 0.6% in the second quarter. WMS Partners LLC now owns 4,387 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC boosted its position in Southern by 0.5% in the second quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 6,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 1.2% in the second quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 3,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 53.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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About Southern

The Southern Company (Southern Company) is a holding company. The Company owns all of the stock of the traditional electric operating companies and the parent entities of Southern Power Company (Southern Power) and Southern Company Gas, and owns other direct and indirect subsidiaries. The Company’s segments include Gas distribution operations, Gas marketing services, Wholesale gas services, Gas midstream operations and All other.