Southern (NYSE:SO) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Southern (NYSE:SO) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 3.950-4.050 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 4.020. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Southern also updated its FY24 guidance to $3.95-$4.05 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a sector outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. Argus lifted their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $76.50.

Southern Stock Performance

Southern stock traded up $2.98 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $86.50. 4,567,174 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,465,153. The firm has a market cap of $94.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.31 and a 200 day moving average of $73.80. Southern has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $86.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.07% and a net margin of 16.74%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.