Southern (NYSE:SO) Updates Q1 2025 Earnings Guidance

Southern (NYSE:SO) issued an update on its first quarter 2025 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.200-1.200 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 1.150. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Southern also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 4.200-4.300 EPS.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $87.68. 5,052,861 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,937,051. The business has a 50 day moving average of $83.50 and a 200 day moving average of $86.80. The company has a market capitalization of $96.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Southern has a 1-year low of $65.99 and a 1-year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. Research analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SO. Guggenheim cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.79.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company 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.