Southern Co. (SO) closed at $87.51 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.84% move from the prior day. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.55%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.63%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.91%.
The power company's shares have seen an increase of 2.27% over the last month, not keeping up with the Utilities sector's gain of 13.64% and outstripping the S&P 500's gain of 0.71%.
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 February 19, 2026. In that report, analysts expect Southern Co. to post earnings of $0.56 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 12%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $6.99 billion, indicating a 10.21% 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 $29.14 billion, indicating changes of +5.93% and 0%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also note any 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 business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. 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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.08% fall in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Right now, Southern Co. possesses a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Looking at its valuation, Southern Co. is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 19.45. This indicates a premium in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 17.81.
Investors should also note that SO has a PEG ratio of 2.69 right now. 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 the market closed yesterday, the Utility - Electric Power industry was having an average PEG ratio of 2.59.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 79, finds itself in the top 33% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Southern Company (The) (SO): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
