Research Analysts Offer Predictions for The Southern Company's FY2025 Earnings (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2025 earnings estimates for Southern in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, September 18th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $4.25 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $4.29. The consensus estimate for Southern's current full-year earnings is $4.01 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern's FY2026 earnings at $4.54 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.33.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Monday, hitting $90.15. The stock had a trading volume of 1,557,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,457,678. The firm has a market cap of $98.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. Southern has a 12 month low of $61.56 and a 12 month high of $90.58. The business's 50-day moving average is $86.20 and its 200 day moving average is $78.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Trading of Southern

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 100,089,634 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $7,180,430,000 after acquiring an additional 481,071 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Southern by 45.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,994,733 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,721,382,000 after buying an additional 7,550,570 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,529,052 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $247,457,000 after buying an additional 934,447 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,572,230 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $199,528,000 after acquiring an additional 452,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Southern by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,542,113 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $197,192,000 after acquiring an additional 51,751 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Southern's payout ratio is 74.42%.

About Southern

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.