The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Forecasted to Earn Q4 2022 Earnings of $0.24 Per Share

Defense World · Aug 8, 2022 15:21

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) – Equities research analysts at KeyCorp decreased their Q4 2022 EPS estimates for shares of Southern in a research note issued on Thursday, August 4th. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $0.24 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $0.43. The consensus estimate for Southern's current full-year earnings is $3.61 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Southern's FY2023 earnings at $3.83 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $4.18 EPS.

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Several other analysts have also weighed in on SO. Seaport Res Ptn restated a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, June 30th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $76.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $67.00 to $66.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $82.00 to $79.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $81.00 to $70.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $75.70.

Southern Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $77.27 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $72.20 and a 200-day moving average of $71.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $82.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.50. Southern has a 1-year low of $60.99 and a 1-year high of $78.78.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.31 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 12.13%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Southern by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,701,855 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,546,512,000 after acquiring an additional 10,192,044 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter worth $268,032,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 78.9% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,644,781 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $264,284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,607,524 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 81.4% during the 1st quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 3,229,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $234,178,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449,639 shares during the period. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 13,012.4% during the 1st quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,100,917 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,092,521 shares during the period. 60.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Y. Kerr II sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 136,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,411,012. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.58, for a total transaction of $1,081,410.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 115,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,597,880.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP James Y. Kerr II sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.00, for a total value of $1,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 136,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,411,012. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,083,910. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 12th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.77%.

About Southern

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The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services segments. 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, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investments operations.

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