Zacks Research Weighs in on The Southern Company's Q2 2024 Earnings (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Zacks Research decreased their Q2 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Southern in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, April 10th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.90 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.92. The consensus estimate for Southern's current full-year earnings is $4.00 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern's Q4 2024 earnings at $0.70 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.24 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $0.79 EPS.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.90 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company's revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS.

SO has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays cut their target price on Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $74.14.

Southern Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:SO traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $68.73. 4,818,009 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,621,838. 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 capitalization of $75.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $68.75 and a 200 day moving average of $68.90. Southern has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Southern's payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 28,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,007,222.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm's 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 owns 129,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,007,222.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,446,113. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $631,068,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Southern by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,444,163 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,153,065,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707,845 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $369,131,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Southern by 38.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,547,188 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $488,461,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 5,840.2% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,949,392 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $194,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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.