Southern (SO) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) will likely be issuing its Q2 2025 quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, July 31st. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.99 per share and revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter. Southern has set its Q2 2025 guidance at 0.850-0.850 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Southern to post $4 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Southern Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.44 on Friday, hitting $95.44. The company had a trading volume of 3,069,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,644,116. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.38. Southern has a twelve month low of $80.46 and a twelve month high of $96.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.87 and a 200-day moving average of $89.02.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $93.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at $8,897,795. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Southern stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 17.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,003 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,067 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $3,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.