Southern (NYSE:SO) Releases Q1 2025 Earnings Guidance

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

Southern Trading Up 1.4 %

Southern stock traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $87.68. The company had a trading volume of 5,052,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,937,051. The firm has a market cap of $96.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53. Southern has a 12-month low of $65.99 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.80.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.