Q3 2023 EPS Estimates for The Southern Company Boosted by KeyCorp (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) – Investment analysts at KeyCorp lifted their Q3 2023 earnings per share estimates for Southern in a research note issued on Friday, May 19th. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now expects that the utilities provider will earn $1.52 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $1.46. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $3.61 per share.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SO. Mizuho lowered their price target on Southern from $77.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Southern from $79.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. VNET Group reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Southern from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.07.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $71.41 on Monday. Southern has a twelve month low of $58.85 and a twelve month high of $80.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $435,979,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $369,131,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Southern by 586.3% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,564,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $387,157,000 after acquiring an additional 4,753,465 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Southern by 162.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,572,373 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $457,306,000 after buying an additional 4,067,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.2% during the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 63,002,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,284,352,000 after acquiring an additional 3,653,841 shares during the period. 61.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Thomas A. Fanning sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total transaction of $3,758,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 847,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,705,014.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Thomas A. Fanning sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.16, for a total value of $3,758,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 847,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,705,014.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.89, for a total transaction of $359,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 146,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,516,356.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,917 shares of company stock valued at $6,889,527 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.28% of the company’s stock.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a $0.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 90.32%.

About Southern

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The Southern Co is a holding company, which engages in the generation and sale of electricity. It operates through the following segments: Traditional Electric Operating Companies, Southern Power and Southern Company Gas. The Traditional Electric Operating Companies segment refers to vertically integrated utilities that own generation, transmission and distribution facilities, and supplies electric services in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi.