Southern (NYSE:SO) Releases Q2 2026 Earnings Guidance

Southern (NYSE:SO) issued an update on its second quarter 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.000-1.000 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 1.020. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Southern also updated its FY 2026 guidance to 4.500-4.600 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Evercore raised shares of 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, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.47.

Southern Stock Performance

SO stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $96.45. The company had a trading volume of 4,046,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,641,786. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.12. Southern has a 12 month low of $83.09 and a 12 month high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $108.83 billion, a PE ratio of 24.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.41.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. Southern’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Southern will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Southern News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Southern this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 beat — Adjusted EPS of $1.32 topped consensus ($1.21) and revenue of $8.40B beat estimates, helped by higher power demand; these results underscore resilient fundamentals for the utility. Reuters: Southern Co beats first-quarter profit estimates PR Newswire: Q1 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and valuation chatter — Wells Fargo recently bumped its price target to $99, reflecting some analyst confidence in Southern’s earnings power and long-term strategy. Yahoo Finance: Why Southern Company May Be Quietly Gaining Strength
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor materials available — The earnings call transcript and presentation provide management color on demand trends, rate cases and capital plan execution for 2026–2028; useful for modeling but not immediately market-moving. InsiderMonkey: Q1 Earnings Call Transcript Seeking Alpha: Q1 Presentation
• Neutral Sentiment: Competitive context — Some research (Zacks) highlights peers like Vistra as potentially more attractive on valuation or nuclear investments; useful for relative positioning but not a direct catalyst. Zacks: Vistra or Southern Co.
• Negative Sentiment: Near-term guidance was a headwind — Southern updated FY2026 EPS to $4.50–4.60 (consensus ~4.57) and Q2 guidance to $1.00 (vs. ~1.02 consensus), with Q2 explicitly light of Street expectations; that guidance softness likely pressured the stock. PR Newswire: Guidance Update
• Negative Sentiment: Accounting nuance and headline EPS confusion — GAAP EPS presented at $1.21 with adjusted EPS $1.32; investors often react to headline GAAP numbers or to perceived one-time adjustments, adding short-term volatility. PR Newswire: Q1 Release (GAAP vs Adjusted)

Institutional Trading of Southern

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,643,000 after buying an additional 10,748 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 23,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,054,000 after buying an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,556,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 345,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,108,000 after buying an additional 101,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. 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.