Southern (SO) Competitors

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

Which has better earnings & valuation, SO or NEE?

NextEra Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Southern	$26.72B	3.77	$3.98B	$4.01	22.84
NextEra Energy	$25.27B	5.47	$6.95B	$2.67	25.13

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SO or NEE?

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

Do analysts recommend SO or NEE?

Southern currently has a consensus price target of $92.54, suggesting a potential upside of 1.06%. NextEra Energy has a consensus price target of $83.46, suggesting a potential upside of 24.37%. Given NextEra Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe NextEra Energy is more favorable than Southern.

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

Does the media refer more to SO or NEE?

In the previous week, NextEra Energy had 3 more articles in the media than Southern. MarketBeat recorded 37 mentions for NextEra Energy and 34 mentions for Southern. Southern's average media sentiment score of 1.32 beat NextEra Energy's score of 1.31 indicating that Southern is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southern	23 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
NextEra Energy	27 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, SO or NEE?

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

Is SO or NEE 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
Southern	16.47%	12.23%	3.11%
NextEra Energy	28.06%	11.85%	3.81%

Is SO or NEE a better dividend stock?

Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. NextEra Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.26 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Southern pays out 73.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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 has raised its dividend for 24 consecutive years and NextEra Energy has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years. NextEra Energy is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in SO or NEE?

64.1% of Southern shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.7% of NextEra Energy shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Southern shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of NextEra Energy shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

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