Southern (SO) Competitors

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

Is SO or AEP a better dividend stock?

Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Southern pays out 76.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. American Electric Power pays out 54.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Southern has increased its dividend for 25 consecutive years and American Electric Power has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. American Electric Power is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts prefer SO or AEP?

Southern currently has a consensus target price of $94.29, suggesting a potential downside of 0.31%. American Electric Power has a consensus target price of $111.29, suggesting a potential downside of 0.64%. Given Southern's higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Southern is more favorable than American Electric Power.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southern	1 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.21
American Electric Power	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.29

Which has more risk and volatility, SO or AEP?

Southern has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Electric Power has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to SO or AEP?

In the previous week, American Electric Power had 5 more articles in the media than Southern. MarketBeat recorded 37 mentions for American Electric Power and 32 mentions for Southern. Southern's average media sentiment score of 1.54 beat American Electric Power's score of 1.49 indicating that Southern is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southern	31 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
American Electric Power	34 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, SO or AEP?

Southern has higher revenue and earnings than American Electric Power. American Electric Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southern, 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	3.89	$4.40B	$3.89	24.31
American Electric Power	$19.72B	3.04	$2.97B	$6.84	16.37

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

64.1% of Southern shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American Electric Power shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Southern shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is SO or AEP more profitable?

American Electric Power has a net margin of 17.68% compared to Southern's net margin of 15.10%. Southern's return on equity of 12.09% beat American Electric Power's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern	15.10%	12.09%	3.06%
American Electric Power	17.68%	11.55%	3.11%

Summary

American Electric Power beats Southern on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.