KeyCorp Issues Negative Forecast for Southern Earnings

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Analysts at KeyCorp lowered their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Southern in a research note issued on Tuesday, December 3rd. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now expects that the utilities provider will earn $0.50 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.58. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.03 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Southern’s FY2026 earnings at $4.61 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $5.13 EPS.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.42 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho lowered shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.47.

Southern Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $85.84 on Thursday. Southern has a 12 month low of $65.80 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $89.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $94.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.51.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Old North State Trust LLC raised its stake in Southern by 0.6% in the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 22,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,011,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Southern by 4.2% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 39,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,526,000 after buying an additional 1,568 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Southern by 60.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 23,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 8,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Destination Wealth Management bought a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $478,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% 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.