Brokers Issue Forecasts for Southern's Q4 Earnings (NYSE:SO)

Key Points

• KeyCorp forecasts Southern Company will report Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) of $0.63, with a current full-year consensus EPS estimate of $4.29.
• Southern's recent earnings miss in Q2 reported $0.91 EPS, below the consensus estimate of $0.99, despite a 7.9% year-over-year revenue increase to $6.97 billion.
• The current consensus price target for Southern Company's stock is $97.54, with a majority of analysts giving it a "Hold" rating.

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) - KeyCorp issued their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Southern in a research note issued on Wednesday, October 15th. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.63 for the quarter. KeyCorp currently has a "Underweight" rating and a $87.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Southern's current full-year earnings is $4.29 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Southern's FY2026 earnings at $4.57 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $5.53 EPS.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.08). Southern had a net margin of 15.10% and a return on equity of 12.09%. The firm had revenue of $6.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Southern has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 1.500-1.500 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 4.200-4.300 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on SO. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $97.54.

Southern Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $99.67 on Thursday. Southern has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $100.24. The company has a market capitalization of $109.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 8th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 76.09%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 13,158 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.00, for a total value of $1,250,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,897,795. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 66.3% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 3,206 shares during the period. TrueWealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 1.3% in the third quarter. TrueWealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,897 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,160,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 3.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 101,371 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,607,000 after buying an additional 3,088 shares during the period. Busey Bank boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 10.2% in the third quarter. Busey Bank now owns 13,746 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,303,000 after buying an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 28.4% in the third quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 8,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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