Weiss Ratings Reiterates Buy (B) Rating for Southern (NYSE:SO)

Southern (NYSE:SO)‘s stock had its “buy (b)” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Southern from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Cowen started coverage on Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BTIG Research started coverage on Southern in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $102.50 price target (up previously from $99.50) on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Southern in a report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $103.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.30.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $95.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $105.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $94.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.24. Southern has a 12-month low of $80.46 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SO. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 23.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 21,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,954,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.2% during the first quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,557 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,350,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 17.2% during the first quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 24.3% during the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 204,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,781,000 after buying an additional 39,990 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.