The AES Corporation vs The Southern Company
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 | AES | SO |
|---|---|---|
| Market Cap | $10.0B | $103.8B |
| P/E Ratio | 10.7x | 23.5x |
| Forward P/E | 5.9x | 18.7x |
| P/B | 2.46x | 2.80x |
| Dividend Yield | 5.01% | 3.30% |
| Beta | 0.94 | 0.36 |
Quantitative Metrics
| Metric | AES | SO |
|---|---|---|
| DCF Fair Value | — | — |
| DCF Upside | — | — |
| Piotroski F | 4/9 | 4/9 |
| Altman Z | 0.44 | 1.01 |
| Beneish M | -2.74 | -2.69 |
| FCF Yield | -4.58% | -1.69% |
| Net Debt/EBITDA | 8.6x | 4.5x |
| ROIC | 2.7% | 4.7% |
| WACC | 6.0% | 6.5% |
| ROIC – WACC | -3.3pp | -1.8pp |
| Gross Margin | 18.1% | 48.5% |
| Net Margin | 7.4% | 14.7% |
| Rev Growth YoY | -0.4% | 10.6% |
| Sharpe (1Y) | — | 0.53 |
| Max Drawdown 3Y | — | — |
| FCF Payout Ratio | — | — |
AES 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.
AES vs SO: Head-to-Head Analysis
The AES Corporation (AES) and The Southern Company (SO) 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, AES generates a return on invested capital (ROIC) of 2.7% compared to SO's 4.7%. This suggests SO is more effective at deploying capital to generate shareholder returns.
AES appears in 22 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, AES or SO?
Our quantitative analysis compares AES and SO 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 AES and SO 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.