NRG Energy, Inc. vs The Southern Company
NRG wins the Tale of the Tape 5–4.
🏆 Tale of the Tape
Green = winner in each category. Higher is better except P/E (lower = cheaper).
Rolling Correlation
Low correlation — excellent diversification pair.
Fundamentals
| Metric | NRG | SO |
|---|---|---|
| Market Cap | $28.3B | $103.8B |
| P/E Ratio | 147.3x | 23.5x |
| Forward P/E | 11.5x | 18.7x |
| P/B | 24.76x | 2.80x |
| Dividend Yield | 1.42% | 3.30% |
| Beta | 1.31 | 0.36 |
Quantitative Metrics
| Metric | NRG | SO |
|---|---|---|
| DCF Fair Value | — | — |
| DCF Upside | — | — |
| Piotroski F | 5/9 | 4/9 |
| Altman Z | 2.33 | 1.01 |
| Beneish M | -2.47 | -2.69 |
| FCF Yield | 1.64% | -1.69% |
| Net Debt/EBITDA | 4.2x | 4.5x |
| ROIC | 7.0% | 4.7% |
| WACC | 10.1% | 6.5% |
| ROIC – WACC | -3.1pp | -1.8pp |
| Gross Margin | 19.4% | 48.5% |
| Net Margin | 2.8% | 14.7% |
| Rev Growth YoY | 9.2% | 10.6% |
| Sharpe (1Y) | 1.30 | 0.53 |
| Max Drawdown 3Y | -26.2% | — |
| FCF Payout Ratio | 54% | — |
NRG Price
SO Price
ETF Exposure
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Quant metrics computed from financial statements and 1,200+ trading days. Correlation is Pearson coefficient on daily log returns. Not investment advice.
NRG vs SO: Head-to-Head Analysis
NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG) and The Southern Company (SO) represent two companies in the Utilities sector. In our quantitative Tale of the Tape scoring, NRG leads 5–4 across nine fundamental and risk metrics including profitability, valuation, capital efficiency, and financial health.
In terms of capital efficiency, NRG generates a return on invested capital (ROIC) of 7.0% compared to SO's 4.7%. This suggests NRG is more effective at deploying capital to generate shareholder returns.
The 252-day rolling correlation between NRG and SO is -0.038, indicating low correlation, making them an effective diversification pair in a portfolio context.
NRG appears in 27 ETFs tracked by SecuritiesDB, while SO appears in 31 ETFs. Investors holding broad-market ETFs may already have indirect exposure to both stocks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which stock is the better investment, NRG or SO?
Our quantitative analysis compares NRG and SO across nine fundamental dimensions. NRG wins the Tale of the Tape 5–4. However, stock selection depends on your individual risk tolerance, time horizon, and portfolio context. These metrics are computed from SEC filings and market data — they are not investment recommendations.
Are NRG and SO correlated?
The 252-day correlation between NRG and SO is -0.038. They have low correlation, offering good diversification.
How is the Tale of the Tape scored?
The Tale of the Tape compares both stocks across nine categories: profitability (net margin), valuation (P/E), efficiency (ROIC), health (Piotroski F-Score), safety (Altman Z-Score), growth (revenue YoY), risk (Sharpe ratio), leverage (debt-to-equity), and cash generation (FCF yield). The stock that wins more categories takes the overall score. Lower P/E and lower debt-to-equity count as wins.