Southern
Market Cap
US$61.3b
Last Updated
2020/04/09 00:49 UTC
Data Sources
Company Financials +
Executive Summary
The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity.
Rewards
Risk Analysis
Earnings are forecast to decline by an average of -1.7% per year for the next 3 years
+ 1 more risk
Snowflake Analysis
Established dividend payer with proven track record.
Similar Companies
Share Price & News
How has Southern's share price performed over time and what events caused price changes?
Latest Share Price and Events
Stable Share Price: SO's share price has been volatile over the past 3 months.
Market Performance
7 Day Return
11.0%
SO
8.3%
US Electric Utilities
9.4%
US Market
1 Year Return
11.6%
SO
1.1%
US Electric Utilities
-6.8%
US Market
Return vs Industry: SO exceeded the US Electric Utilities industry which returned 0% over the past year.
Return vs Market: SO exceeded the US Market which returned -8.1% over the past year.
Shareholder returns
| SO | Industry | Market | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Day | 11.0% | 8.3% | 9.4% |
| 30 Day | -6.2% | -8.8% | -3.9% |
| 90 Day | -8.6% | -9.4% | -16.5% |
| 1 Year | 16.3%11.6% | 4.3%1.1% | -4.8%-6.8% |
| 3 Year | 35.5%17.7% | 25.0%13.1% | 23.4%15.2% |
| 5 Year | 66.6%31.9% | 58.3%32.1% | 41.3%25.7% |
Price Volatility Vs. Market
How volatile is Southern's share price compared to the market and industry in the last 5 years?
Simply Wall St News
1 week ago | Simply Wall St
Should You Be Adding Southern (NYSE:SO) To Your Watchlist Today?3 weeks ago | Simply Wall St
What Is Southern's (NYSE:SO) P/E Ratio After Its Share Price Tanked?1 month ago | Simply Wall St
Have The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Insiders Been Selling Their Stock?Valuation
Is Southern undervalued compared to its fair value and its price relative to the market?
12.84x
Price to Earnings (PE) ratio
Share Price vs. Fair Value
Below Fair Value: SO ($58.18) is trading above our estimate of fair value ($44.72)
Significantly Below Fair Value: SO is trading above our estimate of fair value.
Price To Earnings Ratio
PE vs Industry: SO is good value based on its PE Ratio (12.8x) compared to the Electric Utilities industry average (20.6x).
PE vs Market: SO is good value based on its PE Ratio (12.8x) compared to the US market (13.3x).
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
PEG Ratio: SO's earnings are forecast to decline next year, so we can't calculate its PEG ratio.
Price to Book Ratio
PB vs Industry: SO is overvalued based on its PB Ratio (2.2x) compared to the US Electric Utilities industry average (2x).
Next Steps
Future Growth
How is Southern forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 12 analysts?
-1.7%
Forecasted annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts
Analyst Future Growth Forecasts
Earnings vs Savings Rate: SO's earnings are forecast to decline over the next 3 years (-1.7% per year).
Earnings vs Market: SO's earnings are forecast to decline over the next 3 years (-1.7% per year).
High Growth Earnings: SO's earnings are forecast to decline over the next 3 years.
Revenue vs Market: SO's revenue (2.8% per year) is forecast to grow slower than the US market (6.9% per year).
High Growth Revenue: SO's revenue (2.8% per year) is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.
Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts
Future Return on Equity
Future ROE: SO's Return on Equity is forecast to be low in 3 years time (11.8%).
Next Steps
Past Performance
How has Southern performed over the past 5 years?
14.1%
Historical annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue History
Quality Earnings: SO has a large one-off gain of $2.4B impacting its December 31 2019 financial results.
Growing Profit Margin: SO's current net profit margins (22.1%) are higher than last year (9.5%).
Past Earnings Growth Analysis
Earnings Trend: SO's earnings have grown by 14.1% per year over the past 5 years.
Accelerating Growth: SO's earnings growth over the past year (112.9%) exceeds its 5-year average (14.1% per year).
Earnings vs Industry: SO earnings growth over the past year (112.9%) exceeded the Electric Utilities industry 6%.
Return on Equity
High ROE: SO's Return on Equity (14.8%) is considered low.
Next Steps
Financial Health
How is Southern's financial position?
Financial Position Analysis
Short Term Liabilities: SO's short term assets ($9.8B) do not cover its short term liabilities ($12.5B).
Long Term Liabilities: SO's short term assets ($9.8B) do not cover its long term liabilities ($74.1B).
Debt to Equity History and Analysis
Debt Level: SO's debt to equity ratio (145.4%) is considered high.
Reducing Debt: SO's debt to equity ratio has increased from 115.5% to 145.4% over the past 5 years.
Debt Coverage: SO's debt is not well covered by operating cash flow (12.4%).
Interest Coverage: SO's interest payments on its debt are well covered by EBIT (3.2x coverage).
Balance Sheet
Next Steps
Dividend
What is Southern's current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?
4.26%
Current Dividend Yield
Dividend Yield vs Market
Notable Dividend: SO's dividend (4.26%) is higher than the bottom 25% of dividend payers in the US market (1.89%).
High Dividend: SO's dividend (4.26%) is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the US market (5.26%).
Stability and Growth of Payments
Stable Dividend: SO's dividends per share have been stable in the past 10 years.
Growing Dividend: SO's dividend payments have increased over the past 10 years.
Current Payout to Shareholders
Dividend Coverage: With its reasonable payout ratio (54.3%), SO's dividend payments are covered by earnings.
Future Payout to Shareholders
Future Dividend Coverage: SO's dividends in 3 years are forecast to be covered by earnings (76.5% payout ratio).
Next Steps
Management
How experienced are the management team and are they aligned to shareholders interests?
7.1yrs
Average management tenure
CEO
Tom Fanning (62yo)
9.33s
Tenure
US$13,097,691
Compensation
Mr. Thomas A. Fanning, also known as Tom, has been the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Southern Company since December 1, 2010 and its President of Southern Company since August 1, 2010. He ser ...
CEO Compensation Analysis
Compensation vs Market: Tom's total compensation ($USD13.10M) is about average for companies of similar size in the US market ($USD11.77M).
Compensation vs Earnings: Tom's compensation has been consistent with company performance over the past year.
Leadership Team
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | 9.33yrs | US$13.10m | 0.060% $36.7m | |
| Executive VP & CFO | 1.83yrs | US$4.39m | 0.014% $8.4m | |
| Chairman | 5.92yrs | US$5.38m | 0.016% $9.9m | |
| Chairman | no data | US$4.96m | 0.011% $6.5m | |
| Chairman | 8.75yrs | US$6.46m | 0.0080% $4.9m | |
| Chief Accounting Officer & Comptroller | 7.08yrs | no data | 0.0019% $1.1m | |
| Chief Information Officer & Executive VP | 4.75yrs | no data | no data | |
| Director of Investor Relations | no data | no data | no data | |
| Executive VP | 6.08yrs | no data | 0.0086% $5.3m | |
| Vice President of Human Resources | 9.5yrs | no data | no data |
7.1yrs
Average Tenure
56yo
Average Age
Experienced Management: SO's management team is seasoned and experienced (7.1 years average tenure).
Board Members
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chairman | 9.33yrs | US$13.10m | 0.060% $36.7m | |
| Chairman | 5.92yrs | US$5.38m | 0.016% $9.9m | |
| Chairman | no data | US$4.96m | 0.011% $6.5m | |
| Chairman | 8.75yrs | US$6.46m | 0.0080% $4.9m | |
| Chairman | 1.83yrs | US$3.47m | 0.0076% $4.7m | |
| Chairman | 3.67yrs | no data | 0.0048% $2.9m | |
| Independent Director | 5.17yrs | US$270.00k | 0.000050% $30.6k | |
| Independent Director | 12.33yrs | US$250.00k | 0.015% $9.2m | |
| Independent Director | 14.17yrs | US$260.00k | 0.00084% $514.7k | |
| Independent Director | 7.33yrs | US$270.00k | 0.0010% $625.0k |
7.3yrs
Average Tenure
59.5yo
Average Age
Experienced Board: SO's board of directors are considered experienced (7.3 years average tenure).
Ownership
Who are the major shareholders and have insiders been buying or selling?
Insider Trading Volume
Insider Buying: SO insiders have only sold shares in the past 3 months.
Recent Insider Transactions
Ownership Breakdown
Dilution of Shares: Shareholders have been diluted in the past year, with total shares outstanding growing by 2.5%.
Top Shareholders
Company Information
The Southern Company's company bio, employee growth, exchange listings and data sources
Key Information
- Name: The Southern Company
- Ticker: SO
- Exchange: NYSE
- Founded: 1945
- Industry: Electric Utilities
- Sector: Utilities
- Market Cap: US$61.277b
- Shares outstanding: 1.05b
- Website: https://www.southerncompany.com
Number of Employees
Location
- The Southern Company
- 30 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard, N.W.
- Atlanta
- Georgia
- 30308
- United States
Listings
| Ticker | Exchange | Primary Security | Security Type | Country | Currency | Listed on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SO | NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) | Yes | Common Stock | US | USD | Jan 1968 |
| SOT | DB (Deutsche Boerse AG) | Yes | Common Stock | DE | EUR | Jan 1968 |
| 0L8A | LSE (London Stock Exchange) | Yes | Common Stock | GB | USD | Jan 1968 |
| SOT | ETLX (Eurotlx) | Yes | Common Stock | IT | EUR | Jan 1968 |
| SOUT | WBAG (Wiener Boerse AG) | Yes | Common Stock | AT | EUR | Jan 1968 |
| T1SO34 | BOVESPA (Bolsa de Valores de Sao Paulo) | BDR EACH REPR 1 COM | BR | BRL | Dec 2019 |
Biography
The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. It operates in four segments: Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services. The company also constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy facilities and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, wholesale gas services, and gas pipeline investments operations. It owns and/or operates 30 hydroelectric generating stations, 24 fossil fuel generating stations, 3 nuclear generating stations, 13 combined cycle/cogeneration stations, 42 solar facilities, 10 wind facilities, and 1 biomass facility; and constructs, operates, and maintains 75,585 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 million electric and gas utility customers. It also provides products and services in the areas of energy efficiency, and utility infrastructure. In addition, the company offers digital wireless communications services with various communication options, including push to talk, cellular service, text messaging, wireless Internet access, and wireless data. The Southern Company was incorporated in 1945 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2020/04/09 00:49 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2020/04/08 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2019/12/31 |
| Annual Earnings | 2019/12/31 |
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more here.