Southern (NYSE:SO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Southern (NYSE:SO) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. Southern updated its FY 2025 guidance to 4.200-4.300 EPS and its Q1 2025 guidance to 1.200-1.200 EPS.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $85.78. The company had a trading volume of 2,781,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,929,938. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $83.50 and a 200-day moving average of $86.80. The company has a market capitalization of $93.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53. Southern has a 12-month low of $65.99 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % 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 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.