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Is Southern (SO) Stock Outpacing Its Utilities Peers This Year?

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For those looking to find strong Utilities stocks, it is prudent to search for companies in the group that are outperforming their peers. Is Southern (SO - Free Report) one of those stocks right now? By taking a look at the stock's year-to-date performance in comparison to its Utilities peers, we might be able to answer that question.

Southern is a member of the Utilities sector. This group includes 120 individual stocks and currently holds a Zacks Sector Rank of #6. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. SO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SO's full-year earnings has moved 0.62% higher within the past quarter. This is a sign of improving analyst sentiment and a positive earnings outlook trend.

Based on the latest available data, SO has gained about 17.67% so far this year. Meanwhile, stocks in the Utilities group have gained about 10.42% on average. This means that Southern is performing better than its sector in terms of year-to-date returns.

Breaking things down more, SO is a member of the Utility - Electric Power industry, which includes 64 individual companies and currently sits at #85 in the Zacks Industry Rank. This group has gained an average of 11.29% so far this year, so SO is performing better in this area.

Going forward, investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to SO as it looks to continue its solid performance.


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