The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) - Equities researchers at KeyCorp dropped their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for Southern in a report released on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.58 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.60. The consensus estimate for Southern's current full-year earnings is $4.02 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Southern's FY2025 earnings at $4.37 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $4.88 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $5.12 EPS.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during 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%. The business's revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share.
Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. 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 research report on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $89.07.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Southern
SO opened at $94.15 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $102.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 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 has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.20.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.57%.
In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, 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 value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 382.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,790 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,998,000 after purchasing an additional 33,120 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 8.8% in the first quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 149.5% in the second quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 219.4% in the third quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.
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.
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