Southern (NYSE:SO) Issues Q1 2026 Earnings Guidance

Southern (NYSE:SO) updated its first quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of 1.200-1.20 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 0.830. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Southern also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 4.500-4.600 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Southern from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Southern from $87.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.91.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $90.85 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is $88.35 and its 200 day moving average is $91.31. Southern has a 1 year low of $83.09 and a 1 year high of $100.83.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. Southern had a net margin of 15.42% and a return on equity of 12.52%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 73.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Southern

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 34,459,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,004,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436,212 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Southern by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,889,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,734,000 after acquiring an additional 78,571 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC increased its stake in Southern by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 4,573,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $398,827,000 after acquiring an additional 95,503 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 4,097,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Southern by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 3,095,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,891,000 after purchasing an additional 190,385 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Southern

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.