The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) - Research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Southern in a report released on Wednesday, May 21st. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.85 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.07. The consensus estimate for Southern's current full-year earnings is $4.29 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern's Q4 2025 earnings at $0.62 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.22 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.20 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.11 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $4.54 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.26 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $4.84 EPS.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS.
A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on SO. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.
View Our Latest Report on Southern
Southern Stock Performance
NYSE:SO traded up $0.27 on Monday, reaching $89.91. 4,316,685 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,494,572. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $98.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. Southern has a 52 week low of $76.64 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.20.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $848,019,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $510,229,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 325.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 11,230.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity at Southern
In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Southern Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.
Southern Company Profile
(
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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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