Southern (NYSE:SO) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Southern (NYSE:SO) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13, Briefing.com reports. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO opened at $75.85 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $70.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.64. Southern has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.98. The company has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 72.35%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at $9,117,660.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,025 shares of company stock valued at $1,424,402. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Scotiabank reduced 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.71.

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.