Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Twenty analysts give Southern Company an overall "Hold" (1 sell, 12 hold, 7 buy) with a 12‑month average target of $99.85.
• Quarterly results vs guidance: Southern beat Q1 estimates with $1.32 adjusted EPS (vs. $1.21) and $8.40B revenue (up ~8% y/y), but updated Q2 and FY‑2026 guidance was slightly below some street expectations, which could limit upside.
• Insider activity and payout: CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares (and an EVP sold 6,669 shares), while the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.76 (annualized $3.04) for a ~3.1% yield; insiders now own 0.16% of the stock.

Shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.8529.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 103,602 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avion Wealth increased its position in Southern by 412.0% in the 1st quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 1,239 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Navigate Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $990,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $91,000. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 75,927 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,328,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $96.87 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $109.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.03.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Southern will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is 75.32%.

Southern News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted Q1 results beat Street estimates — Southern reported $1.32 adjusted EPS vs. ~$1.21 consensus and revenue of $8.40B (up ~8% y/y), signaling better-than-expected operational performance. PR Newswire: Q1 Release
• Positive Sentiment: Near-term demand strength helped results — utilities saw higher power demand in the quarter, which management cited as a contributor to the beat. This demand-led beat supports near-term cash flow expectations. Reuters: Q1 Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and profitability metrics — some coverage noted Southern among profitable renewable names and at least one firm (Wells Fargo) raised its price target recently, which can help sentiment. Yahoo Finance: Why Southern May Be Gaining Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor materials published — the company posted its earnings slide deck and call transcript, providing more detail for investors to model regulated earnings and capital plans. Useful for granular forecasting but not market-moving by itself. Seeking Alpha: Q1 Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer/sector comparisons — some analysts highlight peers (e.g., Vistra) with different clean-energy exposures and valuations; that frames relative valuation discussions but doesn't directly change Southern’s fundamentals. Zacks: Peer Comparison
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance contains modest soft spots — Southern updated FY‑2026 and Q2 guidance (Q2 EPS guide of $1.00 vs. the ~ $1.02 consensus; FY26 guide $4.50–4.60 vs. ~4.57 consensus), which is broadly in line but slightly below some street expectations and could limit upside if the market wanted a clearer beat/raise. PR Newswire: Q1 Release (guidance)

About Southern

Southern Company NYSE: SO is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern's principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.