Research Analysts Issue Forecasts for The Southern Company’s Q2 2024 Earnings (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Southern in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 10th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.90 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.92. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.00 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.70 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.24 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $0.79 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Southern from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.14.

Southern Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $68.73 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $75.80. The company has a market cap of $75.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David P. Poroch sold 10,099 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.96, for a total value of $706,526.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 28,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,007,222.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,998 shares of company stock valued at $1,446,113 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.14%.

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.