Southern (SO) Stock Forecast, Price & News

15 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Southern in the last year. There are currently 5 sell ratings, 2 hold ratings and 8 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "hold" SO shares. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in SO, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.
View SO analyst ratings or view top-rated stocks.

15 Wall Street analysts have issued 1-year price objectives for Southern's shares. Their SO share price forecasts range from $59.00 to $87.00. On average, they expect the company's share price to reach $73.07 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 5.2% from the stock's current price.
View analysts price targets for SO or view top-rated stocks among Wall Street analysts.

Southern's stock was trading at $71.41 at the start of the year. Since then, SO stock has decreased by 2.7% and is now trading at $69.45.
View the best growth stocks for 2023 here.

The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, July 27th 2023.
View our SO earnings forecast.

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April, 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.08. The utilities provider had revenue of $6.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. Southern had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 10.78% and a net margin of 11.53%. Southern's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share.
Read the conference call transcript.

Southern declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.70 per share on Tuesday, June 6th. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This is a boost from the stock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.68.
Read our dividend analysis for SO.

ETFs with the largest weight of Southern (NYSE:SO) stock in their portfolio include Timothy Plan Market Neutral ETF (TPMN), Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU), Fidelity MSCI Utilities Index ETF (FUTY), Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU), iShares U.S. Utilities ETF (IDU), ProShares Ultra Utilities (UPW), iShares Global Utilities ETF (JXI) and Direxion Daily Utilities Bull 3X Shares (UTSL).

Southern (NYSE:SO) pays an annual dividend of $2.80 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 4.03%. SO has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. The company has been increasing its dividend for 22 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio is 90.32%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, SO will have a dividend payout ratio of 69.65% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.
Read our dividend analysis for SO.

Southern updated its second quarter 2023 earnings guidance on Friday, April, 28th. The company provided EPS guidance of $0.75-$0.75 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.95. The company issued revenue guidance of -.

235 employees have rated Southern Chief Executive Officer Thomas A. Fanning on Glassdoor.com. Thomas A. Fanning has an approval rating of 85% among the company's employees.

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other Southern investors own include AT&T (T), Verizon Communications (VZ), AbbVie (ABBV), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Duke Energy (DUK), Pfizer (PFE), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Coca-Cola (KO), Altria Group (MO) and Chevron (CVX).

Southern trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "SO."

Southern's stock is owned by a variety of institutional and retail investors. Top institutional shareholders include BlackRock Inc. (7.24%), State Street Corp (5.81%), Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD (5.64%), FMR LLC (3.18%), Geode Capital Management LLC (1.78%) and Franklin Resources Inc. (1.41%). Insiders that own company stock include Ann P Daiss, Bryan D Anderson, Bryan D Anderson, Christopher C Womack, Christopher C Womack, Christopher Cummiskey, Daniel S Tucker, David J Grain, James Y Kerr II, Kimberly S Greene, Martin Bernard Davis, Stephen E Kuczynski, Stephen E Kuczynski and Thomas A Fanning.
View institutional ownership trends.

Shares of SO stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include WeBull, Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

One share of SO stock can currently be purchased for approximately $69.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) has a market capitalization of $75.73 billion and generates $29.28 billion in revenue each year. The utilities provider earns $3.54 billion in net income (profit) each year or $3.10 on an earnings per share basis.

The company employs 27,700 workers across the globe.

Southern's mailing address is 30 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard N.W., Atlanta GA, 30308. The official website for the company is www.southerncompany.com. The utilities provider can be reached via phone at (404) 506-5000, via email at apabramo@southernco.com, or via fax at 404-506-0344.