The most recent trading session ended with Southern Co. (SO) standing at $91.02, reflecting a -0.15% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.17%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.39%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.05%.
Shares of the power company witnessed a gain of 0.68% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Utilities sector with its of 0% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.94%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Southern Co. in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on May 1, 2025. On that day, Southern Co. is projected to report earnings of $1.17 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 13.59%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $6.93 billion, showing a 4.31% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.29 per share and revenue of $27.43 billion. These totals would mark changes of +5.93% and +2.64%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.25% lower. Southern Co. currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note Southern Co.'s current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 21.23. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 18.16 of its industry.
Meanwhile, SO's PEG ratio is currently 3.28. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Utility - Electric Power industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.8.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 50, which puts it in the top 21% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming 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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