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Research Alert: CFRA Reiterates Hold Opinion On Shares Of The Southern Company

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CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

We lift our 12-month target by $1 to $101, 22.0x our next-12-month EPS view of $4.59, above its five-year forward average of 19.7x. We lift our 2026 EPS view by $0.02 to $4.57 and initiate our 2027 EPS view at $4.92. SO announced that 23 GW of its 75+ GW large-load pipeline are either contracted (11 GW) or in late-stage/finalizing phases (12 GW), with data centers representing most of this activity. We think the sizable pipeline provides strong visibility into sustained 8%+ rate base growth through 2030 and beyond, above its historical 5-6% growth. In our view, the $26.5B DOE loan de-risks the company's capital structure, as these loans provide low-cost (Treasury +37.5 bps), long-duration (30-year) capital that removes refinancing risk for the majority of the 10 GW of new regulated generation currently under construction. We see EPS growth (~7.3% CAGR from 2025 to 2030) approximating that of its peers, but we anticipate that dividend growth, at just a 3.2% CAGR, will trail peers over the same time span.

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