Southern Co (SOJE) stock analysis

P/E below its 5-year median

Southern's P/E of 22.6 is below its own 5-year median of 22.7.

P/E above the industry

Southern's P/E of 22.6 is above the Electric Services median of 21.7.

EV/EBITDA below its 5-year median

Southern's EV/EBITDA of 13.2 is below its 5-year median of 13.6.

P/S above the industry

Southern's price-to-sales of 3.57 is above the Electric Services median of 2.75 (book value is negative, so we use sales).

Trading above fair value

The share price of $93.71 is above our fair value estimate of $83.91.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 11.7% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew 0.3% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing under 10% a year

Diluted EPS grew 6.3% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings acceleration

Needs positive net income now, a year ago and five years ago.

Growing slower than the industry

Revenue grew 6.4% over the last twelve months; the Electric Services median is 7.8%.

Company guidance

No outlook found in earnings releases from the last twelve months.

Gross margin trend

This company does not report gross profit.

Return on equity

Needs positive equity and five years of results.

Return on invested capital

Needs operating income and invested capital.

Return on equity against the industry

Needs positive equity.

Earnings over 5 years

Needs positive net income five years ago and in the latest year.

Net margin against its history

Needs five years of revenue and net income.

Net margin above the industry

Southern's net margin of 15.4% is above the Electric Services median of 8.8%.

Debt level

Needs debt and equity figures.

Debt trend

Needs a balance sheet from five years ago with positive equity.

Debt not well covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 14.1% of total debt; we look for at least 20%.

Interest coverage

Interest expense is not reported separately.

Short-term assets don't cover short-term debts

Current assets are 0.79 times current liabilities.

Elevated bankruptcy risk

The Altman Z-score is 0.85; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

Pays a dividend

Southern paid dividends worth 3.2% of the share price over the last twelve months.

Yield below Treasuries

The 3.2% yield is below the 4.4% on a 1-year Treasury.

Yield below the top quarter

The top quarter of US dividend payers yield 4.0% or more; Southern yields 3.2%.

Dividend not cut

The dividend per share has not fallen by more than 10% in any of the last 10 fiscal years.

Covered by earnings

Dividends take 66.6% of net income.

Cash-flow cover

Needs dividends paid and free cash flow.