Southern (NYSE:SO) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Southern (NYSE:SO) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 3.950-4.050 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 4.000. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Southern also updated its Q2 2024 guidance to 0.900-0.900 EPS.

Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.85. The stock had a trading volume of 4,469,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,739,155. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. Southern has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $75.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.58.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.79 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Southern will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered shares of Southern from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $74.71.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,025 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,402 over the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.