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Southern Co. (SO) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
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Southern Co. (SO - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $71.74, moving +1.38% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.59%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.53%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.45%.
Heading into today, shares of the power company had gained 6.63% over the past month, outpacing the Utilities sector's gain of 0.48% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.33% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Southern Co. as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Southern Co. is projected to report earnings of $0.24 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 33.33%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.04 billion, up 4.67% from the year-ago period.
SO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.58 per share and revenue of $27.09 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.99% and +17.21%, respectively.
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. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.5% lower. Southern Co. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Southern Co. has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.75 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.25.
We can also see that SO currently has a PEG ratio of 4.94. 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 3.18 at yesterday's closing price.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 83, which puts it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Southern Co. (SO) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
Southern Co. (SO - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $71.74, moving +1.38% from the previous trading session. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.59%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.53%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.45%.
Heading into today, shares of the power company had gained 6.63% over the past month, outpacing the Utilities sector's gain of 0.48% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.33% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Southern Co. as it approaches its next earnings release. On that day, Southern Co. is projected to report earnings of $0.24 per share, which would represent a year-over-year decline of 33.33%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $6.04 billion, up 4.67% from the year-ago period.
SO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.58 per share and revenue of $27.09 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.99% and +17.21%, respectively.
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. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.5% lower. Southern Co. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Southern Co. has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.75 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.25.
We can also see that SO currently has a PEG ratio of 4.94. 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 3.18 at yesterday's closing price.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 83, which puts it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.