Southern Co. (SO) ended the recent trading session at $95.85, demonstrating a +1.12% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.06% for the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.41%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq decreased by 0.39%.
Heading into today, shares of the power company had gained 4.54% over the past month, outpacing the Utilities sector's gain of 1.55% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 5.88%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Southern Co. in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on July 31, 2025. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.98, signifying a 10.09% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $6.77 billion, up 4.8% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.28 per share and revenue of $28.46 billion. These totals would mark changes of +5.68% and +6.51%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co. should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent 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 ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.02% lower. Southern Co. is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Southern Co. is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 22.17. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 18.52.
Investors should also note that SO has a PEG ratio of 3.28 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Utility - Electric Power stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.67 based on yesterday's closing prices.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 81, putting it in the top 33% 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Southern Company (The) (SO): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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