The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services segments. 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, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investments operations. In addition, it owns and/or operates 30 hydroelectric generating stations, 24 fossil fuel generating stations, three nuclear generating stations, 13 combined cycle/cogeneration stations, 45 solar facilities, 15 wind facilities, one fuel cell facility, and four battery storage facility; and constructs, operates, and maintains 76,289 miles of natural gas pipelines and 14 storage facilities with total capacity of 157 Bcf to provide natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company serves approximately 8.7 million electric and gas utility customers. Further, the company offers digital wireless communications and fiber optics services. The Southern Company was incorporated in 1945 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Southern Price Performance
SO opened at $79.25 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a PEG ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.80. Southern has a 12-month low of $60.99 and a 12-month high of $79.54.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.31 billion. Southern had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 38.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Southern will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 12th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Southern's payout ratio is 95.77%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts have commented on SO shares. Barclays cut their target price on Southern from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 18th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $67.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 21st. Seaport Res Ptn reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, June 30th. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 25th. They set an "underperform" rating and a $77.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Southern from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $75.70.
Insider Activity
In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,057,340.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,406,509.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,057,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,406,509.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Y. Kerr II sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,900,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,987 shares in the company, valued at $10,411,012. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,002,500. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
