Southern (SO) Competitors $91.86 +0.41 (+0.45%) Closing price 09/19/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$91.77 -0.09 (-0.10%) As of 09/19/2025 06:18 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock SO vs. AEP, LNT, ATO, CMS, D, DUK, ED, NI, WEC, and NEEShould you be buying Southern stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Southern include American Electric Power (AEP), Alliant Energy (LNT), Atmos Energy (ATO), CMS Energy (CMS), Dominion Energy (D), Duke Energy (DUK), Consolidated Edison (ED), NiSource (NI), WEC Energy Group (WEC), and NextEra Energy (NEE). These companies are all part of the "utilities" sector. Southern vs. Its Competitors American Electric Power Alliant Energy Atmos Energy CMS Energy Dominion Energy Duke Energy Consolidated Edison NiSource WEC Energy Group NextEra Energy American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) and Southern (NYSE:SO) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, media sentiment, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability. Does the media prefer AEP or SO? In the previous week, American Electric Power had 3 more articles in the media than Southern. MarketBeat recorded 33 mentions for American Electric Power and 30 mentions for Southern. Southern's average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat American Electric Power's score of 1.25 indicating that Southern is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment American Electric Power 27 Very Positive mention(s) 1 Positive mention(s) 1 Neutral mention(s) 2 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Southern 23 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 1 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Do analysts recommend AEP or SO? American Electric Power currently has a consensus price target of $111.50, suggesting a potential upside of 4.15%. Southern has a consensus price target of $94.92, suggesting a potential upside of 3.33%. Given American Electric Power's higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe American Electric Power is more favorable than Southern.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score American Electric Power 1 Sell rating(s) 9 Hold rating(s) 5 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.27Southern 1 Sell rating(s) 7 Hold rating(s) 5 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.31 Which has higher valuation and earnings, AEP or SO? 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. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioAmerican Electric Power$19.72B2.90$2.97B$6.8415.65Southern$26.72B3.78$4.40B$3.8923.61 Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of AEP or SO? 75.2% of American Electric Power shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.1% of Southern shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Southern shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Is AEP or SO 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 American Electric Power17.68% 11.55% 3.11% Southern 15.10%12.09%3.06% Which has more risk & volatility, AEP or SO? American Electric Power has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its share price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Southern has a beta of 0.41, suggesting that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Is AEP or SO a better dividend stock? American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. American Electric Power pays out 54.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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 has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Southern has increased its dividend for 25 consecutive years. American Electric Power is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. SummaryAmerican Electric Power and Southern tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Southern News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for SO and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Subscribe Now View SMS TermsBy entering your phone number and clicking the sign-up button, you agree to receive periodic text messages from MarketBeat at the phone number you submitted, including texts that may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency will vary. Messages will consist of stock alerts, news stories, and partner advertisements/offers. Consent is not a condition of the purchase of any goods or services. Text HELP for help/customer support. Unsubscribe at any time by replying "STOP" to any text message that you receive from MarketBeat or by visiting our mailing preferences page. Read our full terms of service and privacy policy. New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding SO and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart SO vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricSouthernUTIL IndustryUtilities SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$100.98B$25.12B$16.40B$21.65BDividend Yield3.22%3.63%4.71%3.52%P/E Ratio23.6119.3551.8929.94Price / Sales3.784.2731.9560.84Price / Cash10.368.9119.1224.98Price / Book2.742.302.214.59Net Income$4.40B$1.43B$752.30M$1.00B7 Day Performance-0.44%2.35%0.42%0.81%1 Month Performance-3.22%2.59%1.12%5.42%1 Year Performance2.41%11.73%284.90%14.47% Southern Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)SOSouthern4.179 of 5 stars$91.86+0.4%$94.92+3.3%+3.4%$100.98B$26.72B23.6128,600Trending NewsAnalyst RevisionHigh Trading VolumeAEPAmerican Electric Power4.3566 of 5 stars$107.06+0.6%$111.50+4.1%+5.2%$57.26B$20.67B15.6516,330Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastLNTAlliant Energy4.0235 of 5 stars$64.17+0.6%$65.50+2.1%+7.4%$16.49B$4.14B19.812,998Positive NewsAnalyst DowngradeATOAtmos Energy4.313 of 5 stars$162.99+0.3%$160.27-1.7%+19.6%$26.16B$4.17B22.395,260News CoveragePositive NewsAnalyst ForecastCMSCMS Energy4.2925 of 5 stars$70.13-0.1%$77.25+10.2%+1.3%$20.99B$7.52B20.758,324News CoveragePositive NewsHigh Trading VolumeDDominion Energy3.3963 of 5 stars$59.93+0.3%$59.57-0.6%+4.2%$51.15B$15.23B20.6714,700DUKDuke Energy4.6908 of 5 stars$121.08+0.6%$130.62+7.9%+5.2%$94.15B$31.27B19.6926,413Positive NewsEDConsolidated Edison4.662 of 5 stars$96.41+0.1%$105.82+9.8%-5.6%$34.77B$15.26B17.5015,097Positive NewsNINiSource4.604 of 5 stars$40.30+0.4%$43.88+8.9%+19.1%$18.98B$6.13B21.447,746Positive NewsWECWEC Energy Group4.0009 of 5 stars$110.23+0.7%$106.89-3.0%+17.5%$35.48B$9.31B21.127,017Positive NewsNEENextEra Energy4.8554 of 5 stars$71.04+0.4%$84.00+18.2%-13.7%$146.29B$24.75B24.849,300News CoveragePositive News Related Companies and Tools Related Companies American Electric Power Alternatives Alliant Energy Alternatives Atmos Energy Alternatives CMS Energy Alternatives Dominion Energy Alternatives Duke Energy Alternatives Consolidated Edison Alternatives NiSource Alternatives WEC Energy Group Alternatives NextEra Energy Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:SO) was last updated on 9/20/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersNvidia CEO Makes First Ever Tesla AnnouncementWhile headlines focus on Tesla’s car sales, tech analyst Jeff Brown says the real story is Tesla’s role in a $...Brownstone Research | SponsoredCollege grad makes $64,000 a monthA Wall Street legend just helped train our own proprietary AI system in the stock market (a project that took ...Stansberry Research | SponsoredStunning new initiative unfolding in the White House?what I just learned about what’s unfolding in the White House is truly stunning… And you need to see it for...Paradigm Press | SponsoredIRS Wants Another Check on Sept 15th—What If You Could Keep It Instead?On September 15th, the IRS collects another round of quarterly tax payments—targeting self-employed profession...American Alternative | SponsoredCrypto Gets Official Government Backing—Here's the WinnerTrump Just Signed the GENIUS Act—One Coin is About to Explode We're at the BEGINNING of smart money really ...Crypto 101 Media | SponsoredCapital Gains Tax Strategies for SeniorsCapital gains taxes can take a bite out of your retirement income—unless you have a smart strategy. 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