Southern Co. (SO) ended the recent trading session at $90.72, demonstrating a +1.5% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.33%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.1%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.59%.
Heading into today, shares of the power company had gained 3.04% over the past month, lagging the Utilities sector's gain of 5.05% and outpacing the S&P 500's loss of 0%.
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. Alongside, our most recent consensus estimate is anticipating revenue of $6.86 billion, indicating a 8.26% upward movement from the same quarter last year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $4.29 per share and a revenue of $29.12 billion, indicating changes of +5.93% and +8.95%, 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. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
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, 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 0.29% lower. Currently, Southern Co. is carrying a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Looking at valuation, Southern Co. is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.53. This denotes a premium relative to the industry average Forward P/E of 18.09.
We can also see that SO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.7. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Utility - Electric Power industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.64.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 83, positioning it in the top 34% of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding 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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