Zacks: Analysts Anticipate The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Will Announce Quarterly Sales of $5.62 Billion

Equities analysts expect The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) to announce sales of $5.62 billion for the current fiscal quarter, Zacks reports. Three analysts have provided estimates for Southern’s earnings, with the lowest sales estimate coming in at $5.58 billion and the highest estimate coming in at $5.69 billion. Southern reported sales of $5.20 billion in the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 8.1%. The business is scheduled to issue its next earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Southern will report full year sales of $24.62 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $24.17 billion to $25.08 billion. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the company will post sales of $25.57 billion, with estimates ranging from $25.26 billion to $26.11 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that follow Southern.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.06. Southern had a net margin of 10.09% and a return on equity of 11.35%. The firm had revenue of $6.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several research firms have commented on SO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.75.

In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 909 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.61, for a total transaction of $57,821.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ann P. Daiss sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.47, for a total value of $506,025.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 338,896 shares of company stock worth $24,354,786 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Landmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $25,000. IndexIQ Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Arlington Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. 60.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

SO opened at $73.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $78.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a PEG ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.28 and a 200 day moving average of $68.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.89. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $60.12 and a fifty-two week high of $77.24.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 13th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.93%.

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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