Q3 2023 Earnings Estimate for The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Issued By KeyCorp

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Research analysts at KeyCorp dropped their Q3 2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Southern in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, August 24th. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $1.29 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.47. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $3.60 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Southern’s Q4 2023 earnings at $0.70 EPS.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on SO. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “conviction-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 3rd. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $74.00 in a research report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on Southern in a research report on Saturday, August 19th. They issued a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on Southern from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.56.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Southern stock opened at $68.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $74.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $70.19 and its 200-day moving average is $69.78. Southern has a one year low of $58.85 and a one year high of $80.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 9.86% and a net margin of 11.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc lifted its position in Southern by 127.6% in the fourth quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. MRP Capital Investments LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Southern in the second quarter worth $34,000. 63.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total transaction of $348,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,801,994.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.05, for a total value of $700,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,009,804.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.70, for a total transaction of $348,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,801,994.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 143,761 shares of company stock worth $10,152,544. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 18th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.94%.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through three segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, and Gas Marketing Services. 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.