Southern (NYSE:SO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Southern (NYSE:SO) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Southern updated its FY24 guidance to $4.05 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 4.050-4.050 EPS.

Southern Trading Down 2.7 %

Southern stock traded down $2.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $88.54. The stock had a trading volume of 6,817,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,060,107. The stock has a market cap of $96.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Southern has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.