In the latest close session, Southern Co. (SO) was down 2.03% at $95.99. The stock’s performance was behind the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.72%. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.3%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 1.12%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the power company had gained 5.81% outpaced the Utilities sector’s gain of 3.93% and the S&P 500’s loss of 0.9%.
The upcoming earnings release of Southern Co. will be of great interest to investors. The company’s earnings report is expected on July 30, 2026. The company’s upcoming EPS is projected at $1.03, signifying a 13.19% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $7.39 billion, showing a 5.94% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $4.58 per share and revenue of $31.35 billion, which would represent changes of +6.51% and +6.08%, respectively, from the prior year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Southern Co. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. 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, ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), possesses a remarkable history of outdoing, externally audited, with #1 stocks returning an average annual gain of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 0.04% downward. Southern Co. is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Southern Co. has a Forward P/E ratio of 21.41 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 18.72, so one might conclude that Southern Co. is trading at a premium comparatively.
It’s also important to note that SO currently trades at a PEG ratio of 2.96. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company’s anticipated earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Utility – Electric Power industry held an average PEG ratio of 2.81.
The Utility – Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. Currently, this industry holds a Zacks Industry Rank of 103, positioning it in the top 42% 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.
Don’t forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Southern Company (The) (SO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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