Entergy (ETR) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility & risk, SO or ETR?

Southern has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Entergy has a beta of 0.59, meaning that its stock price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer SO or ETR?

In the previous week, Entergy had 10 more articles in the media than Southern. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Entergy and 17 mentions for Southern. Southern's average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat Entergy's score of 0.66 indicating that Southern is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southern	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Entergy	16 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts rate SO or ETR?

Southern currently has a consensus target price of $92.64, indicating a potential upside of 3.48%. Entergy has a consensus target price of $86.04, indicating a potential upside of 4.12%. Given Entergy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Entergy is more favorable than Southern.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.27
Entergy	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87

Does the MarketBeat Community favor SO or ETR?

Southern received 64 more outperform votes than Entergy when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 50.00% of users gave Entergy an outperform vote while only 49.31% of users gave Southern an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southern	Outperform Votes 537 49.31%	Underperform Votes 552 50.69%
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%

Which has stronger 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	3.53	$3.98B	$4.19	21.37
Entergy	$11.93B	2.98	$2.36B	$3.08	26.83

Do insiders and institutionals believe in SO or ETR?

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

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 2.9%. 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.

Summary

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