Southern (SO) Competitors

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

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%

Which has more risk & volatility, NEE or SO?

NextEra Energy has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

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 3.1%. Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. 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 70.6% 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. Southern is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals believe 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 endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor NEE or SO?

In the previous week, NextEra Energy had 20 more articles in the media than Southern. MarketBeat recorded 40 mentions for NextEra Energy and 20 mentions for Southern. NextEra Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.58 beat Southern's score of 1.29 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	37 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Southern	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, 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	5.94	$6.95B	$2.67	27.32
Southern	$27.85B	3.53	$3.98B	$4.19	21.38

Do analysts recommend NEE or SO?

NextEra Energy currently has a consensus target price of $84.50, indicating a potential upside of 15.85%. Southern has a consensus target price of $92.64, indicating a potential upside of 3.42%. Given NextEra Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research 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)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.53
Southern	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.27

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NEE or SO?

NextEra Energy received 247 more outperform votes than Southern when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.60% of users gave NextEra Energy an outperform vote while only 49.31% of users gave Southern an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
NextEra Energy	Outperform Votes 784 71.60%	Underperform Votes 311 28.40%
Southern	Outperform Votes 537 49.31%	Underperform Votes 552 50.69%

Summary

NextEra Energy beats Southern on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.