Entergy (ETR) Competitors

Southern (NYSE:SO) and Entergy (NYSE:ETR) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, risk, media sentiment, community ranking, dividends and earnings.

Which has more risk and volatility, SO or ETR?

Southern has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Entergy has a beta of 0.62, indicating that its stock price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor SO or ETR?

In the previous week, Entergy had 13 more articles in the media than Southern. MarketBeat recorded 51 mentions for Entergy and 38 mentions for Southern. Southern's average media sentiment score of 1.38 beat Entergy's score of 1.35 indicating that Southern is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southern	26 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Entergy	35 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate SO or ETR?

Southern presently has a consensus price target of $92.21, indicating a potential upside of 3.84%. Entergy has a consensus price target of $86.04, indicating a potential upside of 5.90%. Given Entergy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Entergy is more favorable than Southern.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern	1 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Entergy	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87

Is SO or ETR a better dividend stock?

Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Entergy pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Southern pays out 70.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Entergy pays out 77.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Southern has increased its dividend for 25 consecutive years and Entergy has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Southern is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has better earnings & valuation, SO or ETR?

Southern has higher revenue and earnings than Entergy. Southern is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Entergy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Southern	$27.85B	3.50	$3.98B	$4.19	21.19
Entergy	$11.93B	2.93	$2.36B	$3.08	26.38

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SO or ETR?

Southern received 63 more outperform votes than Entergy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 50.00% of users gave Entergy an outperform vote while only 49.26% of users gave Southern an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southern	Outperform Votes 536 49.26%	Underperform Votes 552 50.74%
Entergy	Outperform Votes 473 50.00%	Underperform Votes 473 50.00%

Is SO or ETR more profitable?

Southern has a net margin of 16.47% compared to Entergy's net margin of 8.90%. Southern's return on equity of 12.23% beat Entergy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern	16.47%	12.23%	3.11%
Entergy	8.90%	10.68%	2.49%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of SO or ETR?

64.1% of Southern shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of Entergy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Southern shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Entergy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Southern beats Entergy on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.