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Southern (SO) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Southern logo
$97.80 -0.63 (-0.64%)
Closing price 10/17/2025 03:59 PM Eastern
Extended Trading
$98.25 +0.45 (+0.46%)
As of 10/17/2025 07:58 PM Eastern
Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more.

Southern - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2025)

Consensus Rating

Sell
1
Hold
10
Buy
6

Based on 17 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for Southern in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold." Out of the 17 analysts, 1 has given a sell rating, 10 have given a hold rating, 5 have given a buy rating, and 1 has given a strong buy rating for SO.

Consensus Price Target

$98.83
1.06% Upside
According to the 17 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Southern, the average price target is $98.83. The highest price target for SO is $112.00, while the lowest price target for SO is $87.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 1.06% from the current price of $97.80.
MarketBeat calculates consensus analyst ratings for stocks using the most recent rating from each Wall Street analyst that has rated a stock within the last twelve months. Each analyst's rating is normalized to a standardized rating score of 1 (sell), 2 (hold), 3 (buy) or 4 (strong buy). Analyst consensus ratings scores are calculated using the mean average of the number of normalized sell, hold, buy and strong buy ratings from Wall Street analysts. Each stock's consensus analyst rating is derived from its calculated consensus ratings score (0 to .5 = Strong Sell, .5 to 1 = Sell, 1 to 1.5 = Reduce, 1.5 to 2.5 = Hold, 2.5 to 3.0 = Moderate Buy, 3.0 to 3.5 = Buy, >3.5 = Strong Buy). MarketBeat's consensus price targets are a mean average of the most recent available price targets set by each analyst that has set a price target for the stock in the last twelve months. MarketBeat's consensus ratings and consensus price targets may differ from those calculated by other firms due to differences in methodology and available data.
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SO Analyst Ratings Over Time

TypeCurrent Forecast
10/18/24 to 10/18/25
1 Month Ago
9/18/24 to 9/18/25
3 Months Ago
7/20/24 to 7/20/25
1 Year Ago
10/19/23 to 10/18/24
Strong Buy
1 Strong Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy
5 Buy rating(s)
5 Buy rating(s)
5 Buy rating(s)
7 Buy rating(s)
Hold
10 Hold rating(s)
7 Hold rating(s)
10 Hold rating(s)
8 Hold rating(s)
Sell
1 Sell rating(s)
1 Sell rating(s)
1 Sell rating(s)
1 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target$98.83$94.92$93.20$89.07
Forecasted Upside1.06% Upside3.71% Upside-0.96% Downside-4.49% Downside
Consensus RatingHoldHoldHoldHold

SO Analyst Recommendations By Month

The chart below shows how a company's ratings by analysts have changed over time. Each bar represents the previous year of ratings for that month. Within each bar, the sell ratings are shown in red, the hold ratings are shown in yellow, the buy ratings are shown in green, and the strong buy ratings are shown in dark green.
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SO Price Targets by Month

The chart below shows how a company's share price and consensus price target have changed over time. The dark blue line represents the company's actual price. The lighter blue line represents the stock's consensus price target. The even lighter blue range in the background of the two lines represents the low price target and the high price target for each stock.
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Southern Stock vs. The Competition

TypeSouthernUtilities CompaniesS&P 500
Consensus Rating Score
2.35
2.38
2.52
Consensus RatingHoldHoldModerate Buy
Predicted Upside1.06% Upside13.32% Upside13.60% Upside
News Sentiment Rating
Positive News

See Recent SO News
Positive News
Positive News
DateBrokerageAnalystActionRatingPrice TargetReport Date
Upside/Downside
Details
10/17/2025LADENBURG THALM/SH SH
2 of 5 stars
Paul Fremont
Paul Fremont
Not Rated
Reiterated RatingBuyNeutral$99.50 ➝ $102.50+4.12%
10/16/2025TD Cowen
4 of 5 stars
 Initiated CoverageBuy$112.00+12.37%
10/15/2025Cowen
1 of 5 stars
 Initiated CoverageBuy
10/15/2025KeyCorp
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Boost TargetUnderweight$78.00 ➝ $87.00-12.82%
10/14/2025Barclays
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Set Target$70.00-28.68%
10/10/2025UBS Group
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Boost TargetNeutral$100.00 ➝ $104.00+8.21%
10/8/2025Weiss Ratings
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 Reiterated RatingBuy (B)
10/6/2025Evercore ISI
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Initiated CoverageIn-Line$103.00+7.90%
10/3/2025Scotiabank
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Reiterated RatingSector OutperformSector Perform$99.00+5.50%
9/25/2025Morgan Stanley
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Lower TargetEqual Weight$94.00 ➝ $92.00-1.71%
8/21/2025JPMorgan Chase & Co.
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Boost TargetNeutral$97.00 ➝ $98.00+3.48%
8/1/2025Mizuho
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Boost TargetNeutral$93.00 ➝ $95.00-0.34%
7/22/2025BMO Capital Markets
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Boost TargetOutperform$98.00 ➝ $102.00+6.75%
6/13/2025Raymond James Financial
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Initiated CoverageOutperform$98.00+8.59%
6/5/2025Jefferies Financial Group
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UpgradeHoldBuy$102.00 ➝ $100.00+13.15%
5/2/2025Wells Fargo & Company
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Boost TargetEqual Weight$95.00 ➝ $99.00+8.62%
5/2/2025Guggenheim
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Reiterated RatingNeutral$93.00 ➝ $93.00+2.16%
8/29/2024Bank of America
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 Boost TargetNeutral$86.00 ➝ $87.00+1.78%
8/2/2024The Goldman Sachs Group
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 Boost TargetBuy$83.00 ➝ $94.00+7.27%
8/2/2024Wolfe Research
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DowngradeOutperformPeer Perform
5/15/2024Argus
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 Boost TargetBuy$75.00 ➝ $90.00+13.42%
2/21/2024Royal Bank Of Canada
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 Reiterated RatingOutperform$80.00+18.82%
12/8/2023Citigroup
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 Initiated CoverageBuy$82.00+14.45%

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Sunday at 12:04 AM ET.


Should I Buy Southern Stock? SO Pros and Cons Explained

These pros and cons were generated based on recent news and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate insights. They were last updated on Thursday, October 16, 2025. Please send any questions or comments about these Southern pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

Southern
Bull Case

green Wall Street bull icon

Here are some ways that investors could benefit from investing in The Southern Company:

  • The current stock price is around $95, which may present a buying opportunity for investors looking for value in the utilities sector.
  • Institutional investors hold a significant 64.10% of the company's stock, indicating strong confidence from large financial entities in The Southern Company's stability and growth potential.
  • The Southern Company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74, translating to an annualized dividend of $2.96 and a yield of 3.0%, which can provide a steady income stream for investors.
  • The company has a relatively high payout ratio of 76.09%, suggesting that it is committed to returning a substantial portion of its earnings to shareholders through dividends.
  • Recent increases in stakes by institutional investors, such as Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC boosting its stake by 66.3%, reflect growing confidence in the company's future performance.

Southern
Bear Case

red Wall Street bear icon

Investors should be bearish about investing in The Southern Company for these reasons:

  • Insider ownership is quite low at only 0.16%, which may raise concerns about alignment between management and shareholder interests.
  • The recent sale of 13,158 shares by CEO Kimberly S. Greene, representing a 12.32% decrease in her ownership, could signal a lack of confidence in the company's short-term prospects.
  • The company's high payout ratio of 76.09% may limit its ability to reinvest in growth opportunities, potentially affecting long-term performance.
  • Market volatility in the utilities sector can impact stock performance, and investors should be cautious of external economic factors that could affect The Southern Company's operations.
  • Recent changes in institutional investor positions may indicate a shift in sentiment, which could lead to increased volatility in the stock price.

SO Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

According to the research reports of 17 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for Southern is $98.83, with a high forecast of $112.00 and a low forecast of $87.00.

17 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Southern in the last twelve months. There is currently 1 sell rating, 10 hold ratings, 5 buy ratings and 1 strong buy rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research 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.

According to analysts, Southern's stock has a predicted upside of 1.06% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.

Over the previous 90 days, Southern's stock had 2 upgrades and 1 downgrade by analysts.

Analysts like Southern less than other "utilities" companies. The consensus rating score for Southern is 2.35 while the average consensus rating score for "utilities" companies is 2.38. Learn more on how SO compares to other companies.


This page (NYSE:SO) was last updated on 10/18/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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