The most recent trading session ended with Southern Co. (SO) standing at $90.23, reflecting a -1.72% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's 2.36% loss on the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 2.48%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 2.55%.
The the stock of power company has risen by 2.74% in the past month, leading the Utilities sector's loss of 1.74% and the S&P 500's loss of 5.6%.
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. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $1.17, indicating a 13.59% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $6.94 billion, indicating a 4.38% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $4.29 per share and a revenue of $27.43 billion, indicating changes of +5.93% and +2.63%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.2% downward. Right now, Southern Co. possesses a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Southern Co. has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.38 right now. This signifies a premium in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 18.32 for its industry.
Meanwhile, SO's PEG ratio is currently 3.3. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Utility - Electric Power industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.73 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 40, finds itself in the top 17% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks 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 follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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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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