Southern (NYSE:SO) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.19 EPS

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

Southern Stock Up 1.2 %

SO stock traded up $1.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $88.58. The company had a trading volume of 7,196,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,487. Southern has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $89.24. The company has a market capitalization of $96.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.89, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.04.

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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.42%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s 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 owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,597.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. Argus boosted their target price 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 decreased their price objective on Southern from $74.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.33.

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.