Southern (SO) Competitors

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

Does the media refer more to SO or NEE?

In the previous week, NextEra Energy had 6 more articles in the media than Southern. MarketBeat recorded 46 mentions for NextEra Energy and 40 mentions for Southern. NextEra Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.54 beat Southern's score of 1.25 indicating that NextEra Energy is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southern	30 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
NextEra Energy	40 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SO or NEE?

NextEra Energy received 240 more outperform votes than Southern when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 71.56% of users gave NextEra Energy an outperform vote while only 49.58% of users gave Southern an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southern	Outperform Votes 535 49.58%	Underperform Votes 544 50.42%
NextEra Energy	Outperform Votes 775 71.56%	Underperform Votes 308 28.44%

Do analysts prefer SO or NEE?

Southern currently has a consensus target price of $90.54, indicating a potential upside of 2.47%. NextEra Energy has a consensus target price of $85.85, indicating a potential upside of 21.33%. Given NextEra Energy's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe NextEra Energy is more favorable than Southern.

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
NextEra Energy	0 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is SO or NEE a better dividend stock?

Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. NextEra Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Southern pays out 67.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NextEra Energy pays out 61.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Southern has raised its dividend for 24 consecutive years and NextEra Energy has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years.

Is SO or NEE more profitable?

NextEra Energy has a net margin of 28.06% compared to Southern's net margin of 17.87%. Southern's return on equity of 12.78% beat NextEra Energy's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southern	17.87%	12.78%	3.25%
NextEra Energy	28.06%	11.85%	3.81%

Which has more risk and volatility, SO or NEE?

Southern has a beta of 0.53, indicating that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NextEra Energy has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, 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	$25.25B	3.83	$3.98B	$4.30	20.55
NextEra Energy	$24.75B	5.88	$6.95B	$3.37	20.99

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in SO or NEE?

64.1% of Southern shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.7% of NextEra Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Southern shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of NextEra Energy 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.

Summary

NextEra Energy beats Southern on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.