Zacks Research Issues Positive Outlook for Southern Earnings

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q3 2025 earnings per share estimates for Southern in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, December 19th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $1.26 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.23. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.03 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.12 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $83.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.86 and a 200 day moving average of $85.74. The company has a market capitalization of $91.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in Southern by 34.7% during the third quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $54,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.