Q1 Earnings Forecast for Southern Issued By Zacks Research

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Research analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q1 2025 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 per share of $1.18 for the quarter, down from their previous 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. raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE SO opened at $87.89 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.44 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 company has a market cap of $96.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s payout ratio is 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, 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 owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Investors Research Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 308 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.