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Southern Co. (SO) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
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In the latest trading session, Southern Co. (SO - Free Report) closed at $67.93, marking a +1.22% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.14% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.22%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.09%.
Coming into today, shares of the power company had lost 3.31% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector lost 2.52%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.27%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Southern Co. as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Southern Co. to post earnings of $1.38 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 5.34%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $8.47 billion, up 1.04% from the year-ago period.
SO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.60 per share and revenue of $27.78 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of 0% and -5.1%, 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. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% lower within the past month. Southern Co. is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Southern Co. currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.66. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.69.
We can also see that SO currently has a PEG ratio of 4.66. 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. The Utility - Electric Power industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.72 as of yesterday's close.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 143, putting it in the bottom 44% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.
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Southern Co. (SO) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
In the latest trading session, Southern Co. (SO - Free Report) closed at $67.93, marking a +1.22% move from the previous day. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.14% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.22%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.09%.
Coming into today, shares of the power company had lost 3.31% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector lost 2.52%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.27%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from Southern Co. as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect Southern Co. to post earnings of $1.38 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 5.34%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $8.47 billion, up 1.04% from the year-ago period.
SO's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.60 per share and revenue of $27.78 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of 0% and -5.1%, 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. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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.
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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.03% lower within the past month. Southern Co. is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Southern Co. currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.66. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.69.
We can also see that SO currently has a PEG ratio of 4.66. 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. The Utility - Electric Power industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.72 as of yesterday's close.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 143, putting it in the bottom 44% 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.
Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.