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Southern Company is a holding company that owns all of the outstanding common stock of three traditional electric operating companies, Southern Power Company, and Southern Company Gas. The traditional electric operating companies Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power are each vertically integrated utilities providing electric service to retail customers in three Southeastern state…
$95.30
$0.77 (-0.80%)
EOD Jul 17, 2026
24.65% operating margin is above average. ROIC at 6.13%. Note that capital returns lag the margin, the business may be capital-intensive despite high margins.
Revenue grew 10.6%, still solid. Free cash flow declined 452% despite revenue growth, conversion is weakening.
Free cash flow declined 452% versus the prior year, cash generation momentum has weakened. Negative free cash flow of -$2.94B. The business is consuming cash, not generating it.
24.4x earnings. Valuation is in a reasonable range. The main question is whether the business can re-accelerate or if current trajectory is already priced in.
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$30.18B
▲ +10.6% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
$4.43B
▼ -1.4% YoY
Op. Margin
24.17%
▼ -1.8pp YoY
ROIC
5.83%
▼ -0.1pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
-$3.47B
▼ -452.3% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$9.78B
▲ +0.1% YoY
Net Debt
$75.02B
Cash & Equiv.
$981M
5Y CAGR: +7.7%
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At a P/E of 24.4, A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in .
On quality, Southern scores 26/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a lower-quality business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. It currently yields about 2.8%; see dividend safety for coverage and history. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Southern scores 26 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 7 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a lower-quality business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a 24.2% operating margin and a 5.8% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Yes, Southern pays a regular dividend of about $2.71 per share per year (typically in quarterly installments), a yield of roughly 2.8% at the current price. That is a payout ratio of about 69.0% of earnings, so the dividend is covered, with less cushion. Southern has grown the dividend at roughly 2.1% a year over the past few years. A low headline yield is not the same as a weak dividend: what matters is how well earnings and free cash flow cover the payout and whether it is growing, not the percentage alone. For SO's full payout history, growth streak and dividend-safety score, see the dividends tab.
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. you should weigh SO's valuation and scores 26/100 on quality (lower-quality). It also yields about 2.8%. A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.