Q2 2025 EPS Estimates for The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Cut by Analyst

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q2 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Southern in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, September 18th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now expects that the utilities provider will earn $1.02 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.04. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.01 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern’s Q3 2025 earnings at $1.07 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $1.06 EPS.

SO has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Southern Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.88. 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 has a 1 year low of $61.56 and a 1 year high of $90.34. The firm has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS.

Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.42%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sloane N. Drake sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $931,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,597.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,845 shares of company stock valued at $2,266,455 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its position in Southern by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 11,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $233,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $219,000. SCP Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $548,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Southern by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,499 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,559,000 after purchasing an additional 5,018 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.