Zacks Research Has Positive Outlook of Southern Q3 Earnings

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Zacks Research boosted their Q3 2025 earnings per share estimates for Southern in a research note issued on Thursday, December 19th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $1.26 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $1.23. The consensus estimate for Southern's current full-year earnings is $4.03 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern's Q2 2026 earnings at $1.12 EPS.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a research report on Friday, September 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.18 during trading on Monday, reaching $83.04. 2,556,376 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,417,591. Southern has a 1-year low of $65.80 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market cap of $90.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $85.71.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 4.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,203,386,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,768 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in Southern by 17,272.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Southern by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,405,596 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $577,657,000 after acquiring an additional 52,414 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Southern by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,245,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $292,679,000 after acquiring an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $277,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,293,072 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

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.