Zacks Research Has Weak Outlook for Southern FY2024 Earnings

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Zacks Research decreased their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for Southern in a report released on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $3.97 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $3.99. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.04 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.46 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.03 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.01 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.23 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.87 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.15 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $1.09 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on SO. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Southern Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $87.60 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $89.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.79. Southern has a 52-week low of $65.80 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sculati Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 76,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,940,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. increased its position in shares of Southern by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 2,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Southern by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 162,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,697,000 after buying an additional 2,056 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 16.6% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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 issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

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.