Research Analysts Set Expectations for Southern Q1 Earnings

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Southern in a research note issued on Monday, April 7th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $1.18 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.20. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.29 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.07 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.16 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.23 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.51 EPS.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

Southern Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Southern stock opened at $89.80 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.27. Southern has a 12-month low of $67.53 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $98.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SO. Gleason Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Southern by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 16,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the first quarter worth about $226,000. Constitution Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 16.0% in the first quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 13,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. The trade was a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Southern Company Profile

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.