FY2025 EPS Estimates for Southern Cut by Zacks Research

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research decreased their FY2025 earnings estimates for Southern in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, March 12th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now forecasts that the utilities provider will earn $4.27 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $4.29. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.29 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.60 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.11 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $1.06 EPS.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.90 billion.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective 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 cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.54.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO opened at $90.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $99.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $67.53 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.18.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

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.