Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 4.200-4.300 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 4.310. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Southern also updated its Q1 2025 guidance to 1.200-1.200 EPS.
Southern Stock Performance
SO traded up $0.54 during trading on Monday, hitting $88.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,470,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,061,898. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. Southern has a 12 month low of $65.99 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.82. The firm has a market cap of $97.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.54.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southern
Insider Buying and Selling at Southern
In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.
About Southern
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Southern, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Southern wasn't on the list.
While Southern currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Looking for the next FAANG stock before everyone has heard about it? Enter your email address to see which stocks MarketBeat analysts think might become the next trillion dollar tech company.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
