KeyCorp Weighs in on The Southern Company’s Q1 2022 Earnings (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) – Stock analysts at KeyCorp issued their Q1 2022 EPS estimates for Southern in a research report issued on Tuesday, April 19th. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.90 per share for the quarter. KeyCorp currently has a “Overweight” rating and a $71.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Southern’s Q2 2022 earnings at $0.89 EPS, Q3 2022 earnings at $1.39 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $3.74 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $4.06 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.31 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.58 EPS.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $5.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.75 billion. Southern had a net margin of 10.42% and a return on equity of 11.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Southern from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $75.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Monday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $73.44.

NYSE SO opened at $76.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $69.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $81.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.83, a PEG ratio of 5.34 and a beta of 0.52. Southern has a 12 month low of $60.12 and a 12 month high of $77.24.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 13th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.81%.

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $1,101,565.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,758,125.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 874 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.07, for a total transaction of $56,871.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 332,516 shares of company stock worth $23,808,569 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $268,032,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,764,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,844,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,130 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 195.4% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,591,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $109,169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052,909 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,446,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,585,000 after acquiring an additional 938,769 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 122.8% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,375,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,360,000 after acquiring an additional 758,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.24% of the company’s stock.

Southern Company Profile (Get Rating)

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services segments. 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, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investments operations.

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