The Southern Company (SO) Stock

About The Southern Company

The Southern Company operates as an energy utility, primarily involved in the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity. Its operations are segmented into Gas Distribution Operations, Gas Pipeline Investments, Wholesale Gas Services, and Gas Marketing Services. The company also undertakes the development, construction, acquisition, ownership, and management of various power generation assets, including renewable energy ventures, and supplies electricity to the wholesale market. Complementing its power business, it distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, while also offering gas marketing services, wholesale gas services, and managing gas pipeline investments. Its extensive portfolio of generating assets includes 30 hydroelectric, 24 fossil fuel, three nuclear, 13 combined cycle/cogeneration, 45 solar, 15 wind, one fuel cell, and four battery storage facilities. In terms of natural gas infrastructure, the company builds, operates, and maintains 76,289 miles of pipelines and 14 storage facilities with a total capacity of 157 billion cubic feet, delivering natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial clients. The Southern Company serves approximately 8.7 million electric and gas utility customers in total. Furthermore, it provides digital wireless communications and fiber optics services. The company was founded in 1945 and maintains its corporate headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Southern Company is led by CEO Christopher C. Womack, employs 28,314 people, headquartered in Atlanta, US, publicly traded since 1981.

The Southern Company (SO) stock trades at $96.05 with a market capitalization of $108.28B. The stock is valued at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 23.90, price-to-book of 2.91, price-to-sales of 3.46. Over the past 52 weeks the stock has ranged between $83.80 and $100.84, and currently trades 4.8% below its 52-week high.

On profitability, The Southern Company generates a return on equity (ROE) of 12.05%, above the typical market average, return on capital employed of 18.71%, an operating margin of 24.60%, a net profit margin of 14.46%.

In its most recent fiscal year, The Southern Company reported annual revenue of $29.6B, net profit of $4.3B, revenue has compounded at 7.7% a year over the last five years, profit at 6.7% a year.

The balance sheet shows a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.05 — a leveraged balance sheet worth monitoring, a current ratio of 0.65, total assets of $155.7B, $1.6B in cash and equivalents.

SO has an average daily trading volume of 5,896,252 shares, a beta of 0.34 (less volatile than the overall market).

Official website: www.southerncompany.com