The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Expected to Post FY2024 Earnings of $4.03 Per Share

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Equities research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn cut their FY2024 EPS estimates for Southern in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 24th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Storozynski now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $4.03 for the year, down from their previous estimate of $4.05. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $3.99 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Southern’s FY2025 earnings at $4.34 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.61 EPS.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share.

A number of other research firms have also commented on SO. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Southern Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:SO opened at $73.20 on Friday. Southern has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $75.80. The firm has a market cap of $80.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.64 and its 200-day moving average is $69.36.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Southern by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in Southern by 296.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 2,861 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its position in Southern by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 190,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,336,000 after buying an additional 61,525 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 533,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,543,000 after purchasing an additional 3,847 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.