Zacks Research Comments on Southern’s Q4 Earnings (NYSE:SO)

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their Q4 2025 EPS estimates for Southern in a report issued on Monday, January 20th. Zacks Research analyst T. Saha now expects that the utilities provider will earn $0.89 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.90. The consensus estimate for Southern’s current full-year earnings is $4.04 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southern’s Q4 2026 earnings at $1.15 EPS.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on SO. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim lowered Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank upped their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.14.

Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

SO stock opened at $83.50 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. Southern has a 52 week low of $65.80 and a 52 week high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $84.36 and a 200 day moving average of $86.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $326,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $576,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Southern by 5.4% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 108,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,772,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,626,000 after buying an additional 5,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Southern by 94.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,033,000 after buying an additional 140,151 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.