Southern (NYSE:SO) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10, Zacks reports. Southern had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. Southern's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Southern updated its FY24 guidance to $4.05 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 4.050-4.050 EPS.

Southern Stock Down 2.7 %

SO traded down $2.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $88.54. 6,817,447 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,060,107. The stock has a market cap of $96.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.52. The business's 50 day moving average is $89.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.35. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SO shares. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.27.

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.