Southern Co. (SO) Increases Yet Falls Behind Market: What Investors Need to Know
Southern Co. (SO) closed at $69.44 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.1% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.17% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.05%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.2%.
Shares of the power company have depreciated by 0.32% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Utilities sector's gain of 2.42% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.71%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Southern Co. in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect Southern Co. to post earnings of $0.62 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 138.46%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $7.76 billion, up 10.07% from the year-ago period.
SO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.60 per share and revenue of $26.64 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of 0% and -9%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.24% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Southern Co. presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In the context of valuation, Southern Co. is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 19.26. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.89.
Also, we should mention that SO has a PEG ratio of 4.82. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Utility - Electric Power industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.82 as of yesterday's close.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 54, positioning it in the top 22% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
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Southern Company (The) (SO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
