Zacks Research Has Positive Outlook for Southern Q1 Earnings

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded its Q1 2026 earnings per share estimate for Southern Company to $1.23, slightly higher than the previous estimate of $1.22, while the full-year consensus estimate stands at $4.29.
• Southern's stock current price is around $98.15, with a recent target price increase from BMO Capital Markets, now set at $102 with an "outperform" rating.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74, representing an annualized yield of 3.0%, as part of its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research increased their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Southern in a note issued to investors on Monday, October 13th. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $1.23 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.22. The consensus estimate for Southern's current full-year earnings is $4.29 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern's Q2 2027 earnings at $1.12 EPS and Q3 2027 earnings at $1.12 EPS.

SO has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Southern from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Barclays set a $70.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Southern from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $94.69.

Southern Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $98.15 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $93.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.79. Southern has a 52-week low of $80.46 and a 52-week high of $98.42. The firm has a market cap of $107.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.6% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 105,904,243 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,725,187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,694,066 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,006,919 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,377,494,000 after acquiring an additional 241,572 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,179,715,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,912,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,003,419,000 after buying an additional 107,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Southern by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,768,667 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $621,567,000 after buying an additional 87,891 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.