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Southern Co. (SO) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
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Southern Co. (SO - Free Report) closed at $71.29 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.25% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.5%. At the same time, the Dow added 1.12%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.32%.
Coming into today, shares of the power company had lost 4.23% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector lost 10.64%, while the S&P 500 lost 6.54%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Southern Co. as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.86, up 2.38% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.62 billion, up 8.09% from the year-ago period.
SO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.57 per share and revenue of $24.81 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.69% and +7.33%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co.Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.09% higher within the past month. Southern Co. is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Southern Co. has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.04 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.66, which means Southern Co. is trading at a premium to the group.
Meanwhile, SO's PEG ratio is currently 5.01. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Utility - Electric Power industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.19 as of yesterday's close.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 87, putting it in the top 35% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow SO in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
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Southern Co. (SO) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know
Southern Co. (SO - Free Report) closed at $71.29 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.25% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.5%. At the same time, the Dow added 1.12%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.32%.
Coming into today, shares of the power company had lost 4.23% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector lost 10.64%, while the S&P 500 lost 6.54%.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Southern Co. as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.86, up 2.38% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $5.62 billion, up 8.09% from the year-ago period.
SO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.57 per share and revenue of $24.81 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +4.69% and +7.33%, respectively.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co.Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. 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.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.09% higher within the past month. Southern Co. is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Southern Co. has a Forward P/E ratio of 20.04 right now. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 18.66, which means Southern Co. is trading at a premium to the group.
Meanwhile, SO's PEG ratio is currently 5.01. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Utility - Electric Power industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.19 as of yesterday's close.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 87, putting it in the top 35% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow SO in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.