Southern (NYSE:SO) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.13 EPS

Southern (NYSE:SO) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 EPS.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $75.85. The company had a trading volume of 4,578,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,244,740. The company has a market capitalization of $83.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.48. Southern has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $75.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 worth $1,424,402. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays upped their price target 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.71.

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.