In the latest trading session, Southern Co. (SO) closed at $88.94, marking a -1.56% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.94% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.75%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.52%.
Prior to today's trading, shares of the power company had gained 1.85% lagged the Utilities sector's gain of 2.01% and outpaced the S&P 500's gain of 1.67%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Southern Co. in its forthcoming earnings report. On that day, Southern Co. is projected to report earnings of $1.02 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 6.42%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $6.69 billion, showing a 3.56% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $4.28 per share and a revenue of $27.92 billion, signifying shifts of +5.68% and +4.46%, respectively, from the last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co. should also be noted by investors. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.09% higher. Southern Co. is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Southern Co. is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 21.13. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 18.
It is also worth noting that SO currently has a PEG ratio of 3.23. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. SO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.63 as of yesterday's close.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 70, putting it in the top 29% 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.
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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