Southern (NYSE:SO) Issues Earnings Results

Southern (NYSE:SO) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 17.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share.

Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

SO traded up $1.01 on Friday, hitting $88.58. 7,196,642 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,794,487. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. Southern has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $89.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 6th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on SO. Argus raised their price objective on Southern from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wolfe Research cut Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Southern news, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director The Ernest J. Moniz 2018 Trust 8,948 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The disclosure for this trade can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.