How to buy Southern Company stock (SO)

Southern Company is an utilities - regulated electric business based in the US. Southern Company shares (SO) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Its last market close was $91.79 – a decrease of 1.39% over the previous week. Southern Company employs 27,819 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around $26.1 billion.

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Southern Company stock price (NYSE: SO)

Use our graph to track the performance of SO stocks over time.

Southern Company shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2024-10-24.

Latest market close	$91.79
52-week range	$64.13 - $94.45
50-day moving average more info button	$89.19
200-day moving average more info button	$78.20
Wall St. target price	$91.31
PE ratio more info button	22.3413
Dividend yield more info button	$2.82 (3.06%)
Earnings per share (TTM) more info button	$4.19

Is it a good time to buy Southern Company stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Southern Company price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $91.88 from 2024-10-25

1 week (2024-10-22)	-1.29%
1 month (2024-09-27)	1.98%
3 months (2024-07-29)	10.63%
6 months (2024-04-29)	23.51%

1 year (2023-10-27)	38.10%
2 years (2022-10-25)	39.81%
3 years (2021-10-29)	47.43%
5 years (2019-10-29)	63.91%

Is Southern Company stock undervalued or overvalued?

Valuing Southern Company stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Southern Company's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Southern Company's P/E ratio

Southern Company's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 22x. In other words, Southern Company shares trade at around 22x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Southern Company's PEG ratio

Southern Company's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 3.1054. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Southern Company's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Southern Company's EBITDA

Southern Company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is $12.7 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Southern Company's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Southern Company financials

Revenue TTM	$26.1 billion
Operating margin TTM	32.37%
Gross profit TTM	$10.8 billion
Return on assets TTM	3.39%
Return on equity TTM	12.68%
Profit margin	17.63%
Book value	$29.65
Market Capitalization more info button	$102.5 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Southern Company's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Southern Company.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Southern Company's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 30.08

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Southern Company's overall score of 30.08 (as at 12/31/2018) is pretty weak – landing it in it in the 64th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Southern Company is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Southern Company's environmental score

Environmental score: 12.26/100

Southern Company's environmental score of 12.26 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Southern Company is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Southern Company's social score

Social score: 11.85/100

Southern Company's social score of 11.85 puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Southern Company is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Southern Company's governance score

Governance score: 4.97/100

Southern Company's governance score puts it squarely in the 2nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Southern Company is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Southern Company's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Southern Company scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Southern Company has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Southern Company was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	30.08
Total ESG percentile	63.54
Environmental score	12.26
Environmental score percentile	2
Social score	11.85
Social score percentile	2
Governance score	4.97
Governance score percentile	2
Level of controversy	2

Southern Company share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 68.26% of net profits

Recently Southern Company has paid out, on average, around 100% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 0% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Southern Company shareholders could enjoy a 0% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Southern Company's case, that would currently equate to about $2.82 per share.

Southern Company's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

Southern Company's most recent dividend payout was on 5 December 2024. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 17 November 2024 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Southern Company's shares ever split?

Southern Company's shares were split on a 10000:6109 basis on 2 April 2001 . So if you had owned 6109 shares the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 10000 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Southern Company shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 38.9% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Southern Company shares which in turn could have impacted Southern Company's share price.

Southern Company share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Southern Company's shares have ranged in value from as little as $64.1261 up to $94.45. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Southern Company's is 0.51. This would suggest that Southern Company's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Southern Company overview

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations. In addition, it owns and operates nuclear, coal, hydro, cogeneration, solar, wind, battery storage, and fuel cell facilities. Further, the constructs, operates, and maintains approximately 77,900 miles of natural gas pipelines and 14 storage facilities with total capacity of 157 Bcf to provide natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company serves approximately 8. 9 million electric and gas utility customers. Further, it develops distributed energy and resilience solutions; deploys microgrids for commercial, industrial, governmental, and utility customers; and offers digital wireless communications and fiber optics services.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of Southern Company is owned by insiders or institutions?
Currently 0.16% of Southern Company shares are held by insiders and 69.584% by institutions. How many people work for Southern Company?
Latest data suggests 27,819 work at Southern Company. When does the fiscal year end for Southern Company?
Southern Company's fiscal year ends in December. Where is Southern Company based?
Southern Company's address is: 30 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard, NW, Atlanta, GA, United States, 30308 What is Southern Company's ISIN number?
Southern Company's international securities identification number is: US8425871071 What is Southern Company's CUSIP number?
Southern Company's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 842587107