The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Rating) – Stock analysts at Seaport Res Ptn boosted their FY2025 earnings estimates for Southern in a research note issued on Monday, November 21st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst A. Storozynski now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $4.45 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $4.44. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $3.60 per share.
Several other equities analysts have also commented on SO. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Southern from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Southern from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 22nd. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 20th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Southern from $80.00 to $69.00 in a report on Monday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Southern to $80.00 in a research report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.42.
Southern Stock Performance
Shares of SO stock opened at $66.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.65 and a 200 day moving average of $72.04. Southern has a 52 week low of $60.71 and a 52 week high of $80.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00, a PEG ratio of 4.56 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.
Southern Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 21st will be issued a $0.68 dividend. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 86.08%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Southern
In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $935,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 115,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,438,123.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.52, for a total transaction of $935,540.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 115,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,438,123.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 3,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.80, for a total value of $200,690.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,626,472.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,050 shares of company stock valued at $2,288,545 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Southern
Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SO. Toroso Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.9% during the third quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 13,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 623 shares during the last quarter. Invst LLC grew its position in Southern by 10.5% in the third quarter. Invst LLC now owns 12,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 1,175 shares during the last quarter. Continental Investors Services Inc. purchased a new position in Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $402,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Southern by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 34.1% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,301,000 after purchasing an additional 4,868 shares in the last quarter. 62.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Southern
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The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates through Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services segments. 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, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investments operations.
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