FY2024 Earnings Estimate for The Southern Company Issued By Zacks Research (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Southern in a report released on Wednesday, April 10th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $3.97 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $3.98. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.00 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.27 EPS and Q3 2025 earnings at $1.01 EPS.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis.

SO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.14.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $69.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $76.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.49. Southern has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a 50-day moving average of $68.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockline Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,945,000. Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 200.9% in the third quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 76,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,933,000 after purchasing an additional 50,897 shares in the last quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $301,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total transaction of $706,526.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,007,222.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at $2,007,222.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,998 shares of company stock worth $1,446,113 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.14%.

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.