In the latest close session, Southern Co. (SO) was down 2.09% at $89.27. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.41%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.07%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.11%.
The power company's stock has climbed by 6.62% in the past month, exceeding the Utilities sector's gain of 1.69% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.46%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Southern Co. in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings report is set to be unveiled on November 5, 2026. On that day, Southern Co. is projected to report earnings of $1.7 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 6.25%. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $8.45 billion, indicating a 8.04% growth compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $4.59 per share and revenue of $31.02 billion, indicating changes of +6.74% and +4.95%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Southern Co. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable 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, there's been a 0.08% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Southern Co. currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Looking at valuation, Southern Co. is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 19.85. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 17.28, which means Southern Co. is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that SO has a PEG ratio of 2.4. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. SO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.56 as of yesterday's close.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 91, positioning it in the top 37% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Southern Company (The) (SO): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).