Southern (NYSE:SO) Issues FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Southern (NYSE:SO) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 4.500-4.600 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 4.570. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Southern also updated its FY 2028 guidance to 5.250-5.450 EPS.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of SO stock opened at $96.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $109.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.89 and a 200 day moving average of $92.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.64% and a net margin of 14.46%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Southern will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $96.00 price target on shares of Southern and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Evercore raised Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $99.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total value of $643,891.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,740. This trade represents a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.67, for a total value of $2,416,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 103,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,015,205.34. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Southern News

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Adjusted Q1 results beat Street estimates — Southern reported $1.32 adjusted EPS vs. ~$1.21 consensus and revenue of $8.40B (up ~8% y/y), signaling better-than-expected operational performance. PR Newswire: Q1 Release
• Positive Sentiment: Near-term demand strength helped results — utilities saw higher power demand in the quarter, which management cited as a contributor to the beat. This demand-led beat supports near-term cash flow expectations. Reuters: Q1 Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and profitability metrics — some coverage noted Southern among profitable renewable names and at least one firm (Wells Fargo) raised its price target recently, which can help sentiment. Yahoo Finance: Why Southern May Be Gaining Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor materials published — the company posted its earnings slide deck and call transcript, providing more detail for investors to model regulated earnings and capital plans. Useful for granular forecasting but not market-moving by itself. Seeking Alpha: Q1 Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer/sector comparisons — some analysts highlight peers (e.g., Vistra) with different clean-energy exposures and valuations; that frames relative valuation discussions but doesn’t directly change Southern’s fundamentals. Zacks: Peer Comparison
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance contains modest soft spots — Southern updated FY?2026 and Q2 guidance (Q2 EPS guide of $1.00 vs. the ~ $1.02 consensus; FY26 guide $4.50–4.60 vs. ~4.57 consensus), which is broadly in line but slightly below some street expectations and could limit upside if the market wanted a clearer beat/raise. PR Newswire: Q1 Release (guidance)

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Southern

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SO. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. raised its position in Southern by 0.7% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 59,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $655,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.5% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 449,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,320,000 after acquiring an additional 46,504 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Southern by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 514,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 13,392 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

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.