Georgia Power parent Southern opened at $94.46 on Wednesday after a fresh round of analyst updates kept the utility in focus. Erste Group Bank raised its FY2026 earnings estimate for Southern to $4.57 per share on Monday, up from $4.56, while the consensus estimate for the current full year stands at $4.58 per share.
The move came after several firms adjusted their views on Southern in recent weeks. Scotiabank lifted its price objective to $103.00 from $101.00 and kept a sector perform rating, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating with a $105.00 target, TD Cowen raised its objective to $112.00 and kept a buy rating, Evercore upgraded the stock to outperform with a $111.00 target, and Barclays increased its target to $99.00 while maintaining an equal weight rating.
Southern, a utilities provider, has drawn a mixed response from Wall Street even as the stock trades near the middle of its recent range. MarketBeat.com shows seven Buy ratings, thirteen Hold ratings and one Sell rating, leaving the shares with an average Hold rating and an average target price of $99.08. The stock’s 52-week range runs from $83.09 to $100.83, and its 50-day moving average is $95.80 compared with a 200-day average of $92.08.
The company reported quarterly earnings on Feb. 18, posting $0.55 per share and missing the consensus estimate by $0.01. Revenue came in at $6.98 billion, above the $6.41 billion analysts expected, and rose 10.1% from a year earlier. Southern said the quarter included a net margin of 14.69% and return on equity of 12.52%.
Investors are also watching Southern’s dividend, which was raised from $0.74 to $0.76 per share and will be paid June 8 to shareholders of record on May 18. The annualized payout is $3.04 a share for a yield of 3.2%, with a payout ratio of 75.32%. Chief Executive Kimberly S. Greene sold 25,000 shares on March 30 at an average price of $96.67, a transaction valued at $2,416,750.
The latest analyst moves suggest Southern remains a closely watched income stock, but the split between buy and hold calls shows little consensus on how much room is left for the shares to run.
