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    How Investors May Respond To Southern (SO) Rising Regulatory Scrutiny Amid Expanded Winter Assistance Efforts

    Simply Wall St·12/25/2025 05:27:55
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    • Georgia Natural Gas® recently provided a US$250,000 grant to the Heating Energy Assistance Team (HEAT) to support vulnerable households across Georgia during the 2025/2026 winter heating season, reinforcing its long-running partnership to keep seniors, veterans, and children safely heated.
    • At the same time, several major research firms reassessed their outlook on Southern, citing rising regulatory and political risks that could shape how investors view the utility’s long-term risk profile.
    • Now we’ll examine how heightened regulatory and political risk perceptions may affect Southern’s existing investment narrative and assumptions about future growth.

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    Southern Investment Narrative Recap

    To own Southern, you generally need to believe that regulated utilities in high‑growth Southeastern markets can still convert rising demand into dependable earnings, even as capital needs and oversight increase. The recent analyst downgrades on regulatory and political risk sharpen the near term focus on rate and project approvals, but they do not materially change the core catalyst of load growth from data centers and industrial customers, or the central risk around heavy capital spending and potential dilution.

    Against that backdrop, Southern’s recent US$1,750,000,000 equity‑unit offering stands out as especially relevant, because it directly intersects with concerns about the enlarged US$76 billion 5 year capital plan and the likelihood of further equity issuance. For investors, this raises practical questions about how future funding decisions might affect earnings per share momentum and the balance between growth investments and shareholder returns over time.

    Yet, before leaning too heavily on that capital plan, it is worth understanding how shifting regulatory attitudes could affect Southern’s ability to...

    Read the full narrative on Southern (it's free!)

    Southern's narrative projects $31.7 billion revenue and $5.8 billion earnings by 2028. This requires 3.8% yearly revenue growth and about a $1.5 billion earnings increase from $4.3 billion today.

    Uncover how Southern's forecasts yield a $99.22 fair value, a 14% upside to its current price.

    Exploring Other Perspectives

    SO 1-Year Stock Price Chart
    SO 1-Year Stock Price Chart

    Four members of the Simply Wall St Community currently place Southern’s fair value between about US$92 and US$259, showing a very wide spread of expectations. When you set those views against the growing concern around regulatory and political risk, it becomes even more important to review several perspectives before deciding how Southern might fit into your portfolio.

    Explore 4 other fair value estimates on Southern - why the stock might be worth over 2x more than the current price!

    Build Your Own Southern Narrative

    Disagree with existing narratives? Create your own in under 3 minutes - extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd.

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    This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.