Research Analysts Set Expectations for The Southern Company's FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Southern in a research note issued on Wednesday, April 10th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $3.97 for the year, down from their prior estimate 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.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on SO. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $74.14.

Southern Price Performance

SO stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $69.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,297,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,619,037. The stock has a market cap of $76.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The company's 50 day moving average is $68.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.90.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Southern's quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Southern by 62.0% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend 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.