The Southern Company (SO) scored on five pillars from its reported financial statements, and ranked against 52 Utilities companies.
The Southern Company (SO) scores 4.0 out of 10 as of , computed from its reported financial statements. That reads as mixed quality. The reading rests on growth, and predictability is what holds it back.
Data provided by Twelve Data. Scores are computed by Lemma Analysis from reported financials.
We cannot judge The Southern Company yet, because fewer than five years had both a return on capital and a cost of capital we could measure. This is not a “no”.
Quantitative signs of a moat, read from the filed statements. This is not a judgement of where it comes from (brand, network effects, switching costs). How Lemma measures a moat →
The Southern Company (SO) has a Lemma Quality Score of 4.0 out of 10 as of October 17, 2026, which reads as mixed quality. A mixed reading means the strengths and weaknesses roughly cancel out, and the case for the business depends on which pillars you care about most. Five pillars feed it, and every one of them is computed from what the company reported rather than from its share price.
Set against 52 Utilities companies, The Southern Company lands at the 51st percentile, in the upper half of the group, short of the top quarter. For reference, the middle of the group scores 3.9 and a company needs 4.4 to reach its top quarter, which leaves The Southern Company in line with the median.
On profitability, The Southern Company scores 4.8, an average reading. Its peers have a median of 4.8 across 49 Utilities companies, which places it in line with them, at the 48th percentile. Profitability in the middle of the range is neither a moat nor a warning: margins and returns look like those of an ordinary business in this line of work.
The Southern Company’s solvency score is 2.7 out of 10 (weak). Against a median of 2.9 among 49 Utilities companies, that is in line with the group and the 44th percentile. Weak solvency means debt is heavy relative to earnings or cash flow, which makes the business more sensitive to interest rates and to any fall in profits.
On growth, The Southern Company scores 6.4, an average reading. Its peers have a median of 4.9 across 47 Utilities companies, which places it well above them, at the 85th percentile. Average growth reflects a business expanding at roughly the pace of its sector, without a clear acceleration or decline.
On efficiency, The Southern Company scores 3.1, a weak reading. Its peers have a median of 3.0 across 51 Utilities companies, which places it in line with them, at the 54th percentile. Poor conversion of assets and earnings into cash can come from heavy investment phases, and it matters whether that investment is paying off.
Predictability scores 2.3 out of 10, which reads as weak. The median across 51 Utilities companies is 3.5, so The Southern Company is below its peers on this pillar and ranks at the 24th percentile. When results are this uneven, the averages behind the other pillars hide a lot of movement, and a longer history tells more than the latest year.
This is a lopsided profile. Growth scores 6.4 but predictability only 2.3, a gap of 4.1 points, so the overall hides a business that is excellent in one respect and weak in another. A growth lead says the business is expanding faster than it is doing anything else well, which is worth checking against predictability. A predictability shortfall means the record is volatile, so the averages behind the other pillars move more than they appear to.
The pillar with the most room to move the score is predictability. If it rose to the median of Utilities companies, 3.5, The Southern Company’s overall score would go from 4.0 to about 4.2. All five pillars could be scored, so the overall uses the full set of weights out of 100: profitability 25, solvency 20, growth 20, efficiency 15, predictability 20.
These are the Utilities companies closest to The Southern Company in market value. Each has its own page scored on the same five pillars, so the comparison is like for like.
How much profit the company generates from its capital and sales.
The company’s ability to service debt and meet its obligations.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are compounding.
How well assets and earnings convert into cash and output.
How stable and consistent results have been over time.
Each metric is scored from 0 to 10 against sector-aware benchmarks, where higher is better. Metrics roll up into five pillars, and the pillars combine into the overall score using the weights shown. Sector-sensitive metrics are judged relative to peers in the same sector.
This score is a systematic, backward-looking read of reported fundamentals. It does not judge valuation, management quality, competitive moat, or future prospects, and can be distorted by one-off items or unusual accounting. Treat it as a starting point, not a recommendation.
Educational only. Not investment advice.
On this reading The Southern Company scores 4.0 out of 10, which reads as mixed quality. Its strongest pillar is growth, its weakest is predictability. Quality is not the same as a good investment: the score says nothing about the price you would pay.
The Southern Company ranks at the 51st percentile of the 52 Utilities companies Lemma publishes a score for. The median there is 3.9 and the top quarter starts at 4.4, against The Southern Company’s 4.0.
Five pillars, each scored from 0 to 10 against sector-aware benchmarks and then weighted into one overall reading: profitability, solvency, growth, efficiency and predictability. Everything comes from reported financials, and nothing comes from price, sentiment or forecasts.
This page last changed on October 17, 2026. The score moves with the financial statements, so the page changes when a new filing moves the reading rather than on a schedule. Live figures for SO are in the app.
No. Quality and valuation are separate questions, and a good business at the wrong price is still a bad purchase. Score the business here, then price it with a DCF you control.
Inside Lemma Analysis the same five pillars run on every company we cover, with the metrics behind each one, current fundamentals, a DCF you control and a watchlist that tells you when the price catches up.
Free to start · No credit card