Southern (NYSE:SO) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) updated its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided EPS guidance of 0.490-0.490 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 0.580. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Southern from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America raised their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.27.

Southern Trading Down 2.7 %

SO traded down $2.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $88.54. 6,814,749 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,461,907. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $89.74 and a 200 day moving average of $83.15. Southern has a 12-month low of $65.80 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern's revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

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 owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.