The Southern Company vs The AES Corporation
SO wins the Tale of the Tape 7–1.
🏆 Tale of the Tape
Green = winner in each category. Higher is better except P/E (lower = cheaper).
Fundamentals
| Metric | SO | AES |
|---|---|---|
| Market Cap | $103.8B | $10.0B |
| P/E Ratio | 23.5x | 10.7x |
| Forward P/E | 18.7x | 5.9x |
| P/B | 2.80x | 2.46x |
| Dividend Yield | 3.30% | 5.01% |
| Beta | 0.36 | 0.94 |
Quantitative Metrics
| Metric | SO | AES |
|---|---|---|
| DCF Fair Value | — | — |
| DCF Upside | — | — |
| Piotroski F | 4/9 | 4/9 |
| Altman Z | 1.01 | 0.44 |
| Beneish M | -2.69 | -2.74 |
| FCF Yield | -1.69% | -4.58% |
| Net Debt/EBITDA | 4.5x | 8.6x |
| ROIC | 4.7% | 2.7% |
| WACC | 6.5% | 6.0% |
| ROIC – WACC | -1.8pp | -3.3pp |
| Gross Margin | 48.5% | 18.1% |
| Net Margin | 14.7% | 7.4% |
| Rev Growth YoY | 10.6% | -0.4% |
| Sharpe (1Y) | 0.53 | — |
| Max Drawdown 3Y | — | — |
| FCF Payout Ratio | — | — |
SO Price
AES 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.
SO vs AES: Head-to-Head Analysis
The Southern Company (SO) and The AES Corporation (AES) represent two companies in the Utilities sector. In our quantitative Tale of the Tape scoring, SO leads 7–1 across nine fundamental and risk metrics including profitability, valuation, capital efficiency, and financial health.
In terms of capital efficiency, SO generates a return on invested capital (ROIC) of 4.7% compared to AES's 2.7%. This suggests SO is more effective at deploying capital to generate shareholder returns.
SO appears in 31 ETFs tracked by SecuritiesDB, while AES appears in 22 ETFs. Investors holding broad-market ETFs may already have indirect exposure to both stocks.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which stock is the better investment, SO or AES?
Our quantitative analysis compares SO and AES across nine fundamental dimensions. SO wins the Tale of the Tape 7–1. 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 SO and AES correlated?
Correlation data is not yet available for this pair. Check back after both stocks have sufficient trading history.
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.