Investment Analysts’ Recent Ratings Updates for Southern (SO)

Southern (NYSE: SO) has recently received a number of price target changes and ratings updates:

• 5/14/2025 – Southern was downgraded by analysts at KeyCorp from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating. They now have a $78.00 price target on the stock.
• 5/2/2025 – Southern had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Guggenheim. They now have a $93.00 price target on the stock.
• 5/2/2025 – Southern had its price target raised by analysts at Evercore ISI from $90.00 to $94.00. They now have an “in-line” rating on the stock.
• 5/2/2025 – Southern had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $95.00 to $99.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 4/22/2025 – Southern had its price target raised by analysts at Barclays PLC from $83.00 to $90.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 4/8/2025 – Southern was upgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $94.00 price target on the stock.
• 3/21/2025 – Southern had its price target raised by analysts at UBS Group AG from $94.00 to $97.00. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 3/20/2025 – Southern had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Morgan Stanley.
• 3/20/2025 – Southern had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $91.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.

Southern Trading Up 2.8%

NYSE:SO opened at $87.30 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $76.64 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $89.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.95 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. Southern’s payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of Southern 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 15,928 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Southern by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 10,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 6,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Southern by 1.4% during the first quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 8,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.