Zacks Research Weighs in on Southern's Q1 Earnings (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) - Zacks Research dropped their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Southern in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, November 20th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $1.00 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.01. The consensus estimate for Southern's current full-year earnings is $4.04 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern's Q3 2026 earnings at $1.21 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.44 EPS.

SO has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.47.

Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Southern stock traded down $0.55 on Friday, reaching $87.60. 3,440,035 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,441,546. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $89.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.60. The company has a market cap of $95.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. Southern has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. The trade was a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 1,361.6% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 2,982 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 241.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 44,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,173,000 after purchasing an additional 31,292 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. boosted its holdings in Southern by 23.1% during the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 4,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Southern by 16.2% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 2,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 35.0% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,929,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $138,457,000 after buying an additional 500,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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.