Southern (NYSE:SO) Updates FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

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

Southern Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.62 on Friday, hitting $88.44. 2,147,508 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,030,806. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.81. The company has a market cap of $96.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $65.99 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Southern’s payout ratio is 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $100,503.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.