Southern (SO) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Southern (NYSE:SO) is scheduled to be posting its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, May 2nd. Analysts expect Southern to post earnings of $0.90 per share for the quarter. Southern has set its Q1 guidance at $0.90 EPS and its FY24 guidance at $3.95-4.05 EPS.Individual interested in participating in the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Southern to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $4 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $73.92 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $69.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.27. The firm has a market cap of $80.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.49. Southern has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Barclays increased their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.