Erste Group Bank Increases Earnings Estimates for Southern

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) – Erste Group Bank upped their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of Southern in a research note issued on Thursday, August 27th. Erste Group Bank analyst S. Lingnau now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $4.60 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $4.58. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.59 per share.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $101.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Southern from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Southern from $100.00 to $97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. KeyCorp downgraded Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $99.00 price target on Southern in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.09.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $88.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.33. Southern has a one year low of $83.80 and a one year high of $100.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $93.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SO. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Southern by 9,736.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 125,596,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,020,878,000 after purchasing an additional 124,319,975 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,142,076 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,587,589,000 after buying an additional 7,593,224 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Southern by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after buying an additional 5,436,212 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,259,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,381,344,000 after buying an additional 384,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth $1,111,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 72.90%.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.