In the latest trading session, Southern Co. (SO) closed at $92.60, marking a +1.07% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 2.65%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 1.35%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 4.18%.
Heading into today, shares of the power company had lost 0.88% over the past month, outpacing the Utilities sector's loss of 4.57% and lagging the S&P 500's gain of 5.47%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Southern Co. in its upcoming release. The company is forecasted to report an EPS of $1.01, showcasing a 10.99% upward movement from the corresponding quarter of the prior year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $7.31 billion, showing a 4.82% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
SO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $4.58 per share and revenue of $31.26 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +6.51% and +5.77%, respectively.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co. should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. 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, 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 past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% higher. Southern Co. is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In the context of valuation, Southern Co. is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 20.01. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 17.88 of its industry.
Meanwhile, SO's PEG ratio is currently 2.77. Comparable to the widely accepted P/E ratio, the PEG ratio also accounts for the company's projected earnings growth. The Utility - Electric Power industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.59 as trading concluded yesterday.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 152, finds itself in the bottom 38% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Ensure to harness Zacks.com to stay updated with all these stock-shifting metrics, among others, in the next trading sessions.
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Southern Company (The) (SO): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).