Southern (NYSE:SO) Updates FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Southern (NYSE:SO) updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 4.200-4.300 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 4.310. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Southern also updated its Q1 2025 guidance to 1.200-1.200 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.54.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $88.46. 5,347,946 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,056,783. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. Southern has a 12-month low of $65.99 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $96.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $83.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.82.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Research analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Activity

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