Southern (NYSE:SO) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Southern (NYSE:SO) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 earnings per share. Southern updated its FY24 guidance to $4.05 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 4.050-4.050 EPS.

Southern Trading Down 2.7 %

SO traded down $2.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $88.54. 6,817,447 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,060,107. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.35. Southern has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $96.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America upped their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 in the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.