Southern (SO) Stock Forecast & Price Target

$93.38 +0.05 (+0.05%)

As of 09:59 AM Eastern

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

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.

Consensus Rating

Hold

Based on 14 Analyst Ratings

Sell
1

Hold
9

Buy
4

Based on 14 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 14 analysts, 1 has given a sell rating, 9 have given a hold rating, and 4 have given a buy rating for SO.

Consensus Price Target

$94.29
0.97% Upside

According to the 14 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Southern, the average price target is $94.29. The highest price target for SO is $102.00, while the lowest price target for SO is $78.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 0.97% from the current price of $93.38.

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SO Analyst Ratings Over Time

Type	Current Forecast 8/18/24 to 8/18/25	1 Month Ago 7/19/24 to 7/19/25	3 Months Ago 5/20/24 to 5/20/25	1 Year Ago 8/19/23 to 8/18/24
Strong Buy	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy	4 Buy rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)
Hold	9 Hold rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)
Sell	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target	$94.29	$93.20	$92.21	$82.00
Forecasted Upside	0.97% Upside	-0.96% Downside	1.57% Upside	-6.14% Downside
Consensus Rating	Hold	Hold	Hold	Hold

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.

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.

Southern Stock vs. The Competition

Type	Southern	Utilities Companies	S&P 500
Consensus Rating Score	2.21	2.47	2.53
Consensus Rating	Hold	Hold	Moderate Buy
Predicted Upside	0.23% Upside	15.08% Upside	11.77% Upside
News Sentiment Rating	Very Positive News See Recent SO News	Positive News	Positive News

Recent Analyst Forecasts and Stock Ratings

Rating

Upside/Downside

Action

Time Frame

Start Date

End Date

Show

Export to Excel

Date	Brokerage	Analyst Name	Action	Rating	Price Target	Upside/Downside on Report Date
8/1/2025	Scotiabank 4 of 5 stars	Andrew Weisel Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Sector Outperform ➝ Sector Outperform	$98.00 ➝ $99.00	+4.25%
8/1/2025	Mizuho 3 of 5 stars	Anthony Crowdell Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Neutral ➝ Neutral	$93.00 ➝ $95.00	-0.34%
7/22/2025	BMO Capital Markets 4 of 5 stars	James Thalacker Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Outperform ➝ Outperform	$98.00 ➝ $102.00	+6.75%
7/16/2025	Barclays Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Nicholas Campanella Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Equal Weight ➝ Equal Weight	$90.00 ➝ $91.00	-2.12%
7/15/2025	JPMorgan Chase & Co. Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Jeremy Tonet Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Neutral ➝ Neutral	$94.00 ➝ $97.00	+5.11%
6/18/2025	Morgan Stanley Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Stephen Byrd Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Equal Weight ➝ Equal Weight	$91.00 ➝ $90.00	+1.63%
6/13/2025	Raymond James Financial Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	J.R. Weston Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Initiated Coverage	Outperform	$98.00	+8.59%
6/5/2025	Jefferies Financial Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Julien Dumoulin-Smith Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Hold ➝ Buy	$102.00 ➝ $100.00	+13.15%
5/14/2025	KeyCorp Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Sophie Karp Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Downgrade	Sector Weight ➝ Underweight	$78.00	-8.86%
5/2/2025	Wells Fargo & Company Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Neil Kalton Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Equal Weight ➝ Equal Weight	$95.00 ➝ $99.00	+8.62%
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5/2/2025	Guggenheim Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	S. Pourreza Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Neutral ➝ Neutral	$93.00 ➝ $93.00	+2.16%
5/2/2025	Evercore ISI Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Durgesh Chopra Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	In-Line ➝ In-Line	$90.00 ➝ $94.00	+2.84%
3/21/2025	UBS Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Daniel Ford Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Neutral ➝ Neutral	$94.00 ➝ $97.00	+8.56%
8/29/2024	Bank of America Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Neutral ➝ Neutral	$86.00 ➝ $87.00	+1.78%
8/2/2024	The Goldman Sachs Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$83.00 ➝ $94.00	+7.27%
8/2/2024	Wolfe Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	S. Fleishman Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Downgrade	Outperform ➝ Peer Perform
5/15/2024	Argus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$75.00 ➝ $90.00	+13.42%
2/21/2024	Royal Bank Of Canada Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Outperform ➝ Outperform	$80.00	+18.82%
12/8/2023	Citigroup Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Initiated Coverage	Buy	$82.00	+14.45%

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Monday at 09:48 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 Wednesday, August 13, 2025. Please send any questions or comments about these Southern pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

Southern
Bull Case

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

The Southern Company reported a revenue increase of approximately 7.9% year-over-year, indicating strong growth potential and operational efficiency.
The current stock price is around $95, which reflects a stable valuation in the utilities sector, appealing to income-focused investors.
The company has a solid dividend yield of 3.2%, providing a reliable income stream for investors, with a recent quarterly dividend of $0.74.
Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price averaging around $94.29, suggesting that the stock is fairly valued with potential for appreciation.
The Southern Company has a return on equity of 12.09%, which indicates effective management and profitability relative to shareholder equity.

Southern
Bear Case

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

The company missed earnings expectations recently, reporting $0.91 earnings per share compared to the consensus estimate of $0.99, which may raise concerns about future profitability.
Insider ownership is relatively low at 0.16%, which could indicate a lack of confidence from executives in the company's future performance.
The dividend payout ratio is high at 76.09%, suggesting that a significant portion of earnings is being distributed as dividends, which may limit reinvestment in growth opportunities.
Recent analyst downgrades, including a shift from "hold" to "sell" by some firms, may reflect growing skepticism about the company's short-term prospects.
With two analysts rating the stock as a sell, there may be underlying concerns about market conditions or company-specific challenges that could affect performance.

SO Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

: According to the research reports of 14 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for Southern is $94.29, with a high forecast of $102.00 and a low forecast of $78.00.
: 14 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Southern in the last twelve months. There is currently 1 sell rating, 9 hold ratings and 4 buy ratings 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 0.97% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.
: Over the previous 90 days, Southern's stock had 1 upgrade by analysts.
: Southern has been rated by research analysts at Barclays, BMO Capital Markets, Jefferies Financial Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Mizuho, Morgan Stanley, Raymond James Financial, and Scotiabank in the past 90 days.
: Analysts like Southern less than other "utilities" companies. The consensus rating score for Southern is 2.21 while the average consensus rating score for "utilities" companies is 2.47. Learn more on how SO compares to other companies.

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This page (NYSE:SO) was last updated on 8/18/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff

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Southern (SO) Stock Forecast & Price Target