Southern Co. (SO) closed at $71.09 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.27% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500’s daily loss of 1.22%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.83%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.56%.
Heading into today, shares of the power company had gained 3.88% over the past month, outpacing the Utilities sector’s gain of 1.38% and the S&P 500’s gain of 0.54% in that time.
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 $1.33, up 1.53% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $8.47 billion, up 1.06% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.60 per share and revenue of $27.78 billion. These totals would mark changes of 0% and -5.11%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co.These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company’s business outlook.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.1% higher within the past month. Southern Co. is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Looking at its valuation, Southern Co. is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 19.69. This represents a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 16.19.
Meanwhile, SO’s PEG ratio is currently 4.92. 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. SO’s industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.82 as of yesterday’s close.
The Utility – Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 109, which puts it in the top 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.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Southern Company (The) (SO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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