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

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Research analysts at Seaport Res Ptn reduced their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Southern in a report released on Wednesday, April 24th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Storozynski now expects that the utilities provider will earn $4.03 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast 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.

Several other analysts also recently commented on SO. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

Southern Stock Down 1.6 %

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

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

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rockline Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,945,000. Zullo Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Southern by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Southern by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 14,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $301,000. Finally, Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,795,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.