Southern (SO) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) will announce its earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, May 2nd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.90 per share for the quarter. Southern has set its Q1 guidance at $0.90 EPS and its FY24 guidance at $3.95-4.05 EPS.Parties interested in participating in the company's conference call can do so using this link.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Southern to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $4 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $74.37. The stock had a trading volume of 6,164,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,720,948. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.49. Southern has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $69.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.31.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $74.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were 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 $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.