The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $1.30 Per Share, Zacks Research Forecasts

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Southern in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, August 22nd. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now forecasts that the utilities provider will earn $1.30 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.46. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.01 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.56 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $1.16 EPS.

SO has been the topic of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.14.

Southern Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE SO opened at $86.12 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.51. Southern has a one year low of $61.56 and a one year high of $89.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $82.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.99.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in Southern by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 21,280 shares of company stock worth $1,678,625. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

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.