Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for Southern Q4 Earnings

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Research analysts at KeyCorp decreased their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Southern in a research report issued on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.50 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.58. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.03 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Southern’s FY2026 earnings at $4.61 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $5.13 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.47.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $86.19 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.44 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. OneAscent Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in Southern by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $292,679,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares in the last quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Southern by 149.5% in the 2nd quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. now owns 16,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after purchasing an additional 9,726 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBW Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 219.4% during the 3rd quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 6,162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

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.