NextEra Energy (NEE) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility & risk, NEE or SO?

NextEra Energy has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its stock price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern has a beta of 0.39, indicating that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor NEE or SO?

NextEra Energy received 247 more outperform votes than Southern when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.64% of users gave NextEra Energy an outperform vote while only 49.45% of users gave Southern an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NextEra Energy	Outperform Votes 783 71.64%	Underperform Votes 310 28.36%
Southern	Outperform Votes 536 49.45%	Underperform Votes 548 50.55%

Does the media refer more to NEE or SO?

In the previous week, Southern had 3 more articles in the media than NextEra Energy. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for Southern and 32 mentions for NextEra Energy. NextEra Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.43 beat Southern's score of 1.32 indicating that NextEra Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
NextEra Energy	23 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Southern	24 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NEE or SO more profitable?

NextEra Energy has a net margin of 28.06% compared to Southern's net margin of 16.47%. Southern's return on equity of 12.23% beat NextEra Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NextEra Energy	28.06%	11.85%	3.81%
Southern	16.47%	12.23%	3.11%

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in NEE or SO?

78.7% of NextEra Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.1% of Southern shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of NextEra Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Southern shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts recommend NEE or SO?

NextEra Energy currently has a consensus target price of $83.46, indicating a potential upside of 26.39%. Southern has a consensus target price of $92.54, indicating a potential upside of 1.26%. Given NextEra Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe NextEra Energy is more favorable than Southern.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NextEra Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.60
Southern	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.36

Which has better valuation & earnings, NEE or SO?

NextEra Energy has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Southern. Southern is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NextEra Energy, 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
NextEra Energy	$25.27B	5.38	$6.95B	$2.67	24.73
Southern	$26.72B	3.76	$3.98B	$4.01	22.79

Is NEE or SO a better dividend stock?

NextEra Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. NextEra Energy pays out 84.6% 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 pays out 73.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NextEra Energy has increased its dividend for 31 consecutive years and Southern has increased its dividend for 25 consecutive years. NextEra Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

NextEra Energy beats Southern on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.