Southern Co. (SO) closed the most recent trading day at $88.19, moving -1.25% from the previous trading session. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.54%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 1.05%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.56%.
Heading into today, shares of the power company had gained 2.44% over the past month, outpacing the Utilities sector's gain of 0.58% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.74%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Southern Co. in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on February 19, 2026. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.56, indicating a 12% growth compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.94 billion, up 9.41% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.29 per share and revenue of $29.13 billion, which would represent changes of +5.93% and 0%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Southern Co. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical 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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.28% lower. Southern Co. is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
In the context of valuation, Southern Co. is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 19.53. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 17.91 of its industry.
Meanwhile, SO's PEG ratio is currently 2.7. 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. The Utility - Electric Power was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.61 at yesterday's closing price.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 85, putting it in the top 35% 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.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming 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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