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SO (Southern Co) Piotroski F-Score : 6 (As of Oct. 31, 2024)


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What is Southern Co Piotroski F-Score?

The zones of discrimination were as such:

Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3

Southern Co has an F-score of 6 indicating the company's financial situation is typical for a stable company.

The historical rank and industry rank for Southern Co's Piotroski F-Score or its related term are showing as below:

SO' s Piotroski F-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 4   Med: 5   Max: 6
Current: 6

During the past 13 years, the highest Piotroski F-Score of Southern Co was 6. The lowest was 4. And the median was 5.


Southern Co Piotroski F-Score Historical Data

The historical data trend for Southern Co's Piotroski F-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Southern Co Piotroski F-Score Chart

Southern Co Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Piotroski F-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 6.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 6.00

Southern Co Quarterly Data
Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24
Piotroski F-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 4.00 5.00 6.00 6.00 6.00

Competitive Comparison of Southern Co's Piotroski F-Score

For the Utilities - Regulated Electric subindustry, Southern Co's Piotroski F-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Piotroski F-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Southern Co's Piotroski F-Score Distribution in the Utilities - Regulated Industry

For the Utilities - Regulated industry and Utilities sector, Southern Co's Piotroski F-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Southern Co's Piotroski F-Score falls into.


How is the Piotroski F-Score calculated?

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Jun24) TTM:Last Year (Jun23) TTM:
Net Income was 1422 + 855 + 1129 + 1203 = $4,609 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 2840 + 1813 + 1311 + 2688 = $8,652 Mil.
Revenue was 6980 + 6045 + 6646 + 6463 = $26,134 Mil.
Gross Profit was 3754 + 2488 + 3244 + 3484 = $12,970 Mil.
Average Total Assets from the begining of this year (Jun23)
to the end of this year (Jun24) was
(137116 + 138321 + 139331 + 140120 + 141937) / 5 = $139365 Mil.
Total Assets at the begining of this year (Jun23) was $137,116 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $61,192 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $10,993 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $12,028 Mil.
Net Income was 1475 + -86 + 862 + 838 = $3,089 Mil.

Revenue was 8378 + 7047 + 6480 + 5748 = $27,653 Mil.
Gross Profit was 3397 + 1863 + 2723 + 2742 = $10,725 Mil.
Average Total Assets from the begining of last year (Jun22)
to the end of last year (Jun23) was
(130769 + 134005 + 134891 + 134756 + 137116) / 5 = $134307.4 Mil.
Total Assets at the begining of last year (Jun22) was $130,769 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $56,490 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $10,979 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $13,240 Mil.

*Note: If the latest quarterly/semi-annual/annual total assets data is 0, then we will use previous quarterly/semi-annual/annual data for all the items in the balance sheet.

Profitability

Question 1. Return on Assets (ROA)

Net income before extraordinary items for the year divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.

Score 1 if positive, 0 if negative.

Southern Co's current Net Income (TTM) was 4,609. ==> Positive ==> Score 1.

Question 2. Cash Flow Return on Assets (CFROA)

Net cash flow from operating activities (operating cash flow) divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.

Score 1 if positive, 0 if negative.

Southern Co's current Cash Flow from Operations (TTM) was 8,652. ==> Positive ==> Score 1.

Question 3. Change in Return on Assets

Compare this year's return on assets (1) to last year's return on assets.

Score 1 if it's higher, 0 if it's lower.

ROA (This Year)=Net Income/Total Assets (Jun23)
=4609/137116
=0.03361387

ROA (Last Year)=Net Income/Total Assets (Jun22)
=3089/130769
=0.02362181

Southern Co's return on assets of this year was 0.03361387. Southern Co's return on assets of last year was 0.02362181. ==> This year is higher. ==> Score 1.

Question 4. Quality of Earnings (Accrual)

Compare Cash flow return on assets (2) to return on assets (1)

Score 1 if CFROA > ROA, 0 if CFROA <= ROA.

Southern Co's current Net Income (TTM) was 4,609. Southern Co's current Cash Flow from Operations (TTM) was 8,652. ==> 8,652 > 4,609 ==> CFROA > ROA ==> Score 1.

Funding

Question 5. Change in Gearing or Leverage

Compare this year's gearing (long-term debt divided by average total assets) to last year's gearing.

Score 0 if this year's gearing is higher, 1 otherwise.

Gearing (This Year: Jun24)=Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation/Average Total Assets from Jun23 to Jun24
=61192/139365
=0.43907724

Gearing (Last Year: Jun23)=Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation/Average Total Assets from Jun22 to Jun23
=56490/134307.4
=0.42060229

Southern Co's gearing of this year was 0.43907724. Southern Co's gearing of last year was 0.42060229. ==> Last year is lower than this year ==> Score 0.

Question 6. Change in Working Capital (Liquidity)

Compare this year's current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) to last year's current ratio.

Score 1 if this year's current ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower

Current Ratio (This Year: Jun24)=Total Current Assets/Total Current Liabilities
=10993/12028
=0.91395078

Current Ratio (Last Year: Jun23)=Total Current Assets/Total Current Liabilities
=10979/13240
=0.82922961

Southern Co's current ratio of this year was 0.91395078. Southern Co's current ratio of last year was 0.82922961. ==> This year's current ratio is higher. ==> Score 1.

Question 7. Change in Shares in Issue

Compare the number of shares in issue this year, to the number in issue last year.

Score 0 if there is larger number of shares in issue this year, 1 otherwise.

Southern Co's number of shares in issue this year was 1102. Southern Co's number of shares in issue last year was 1098. ==> There is larger number of shares in issue this year. ==> Score 0.

Efficiency

Question 8. Change in Gross Margin

Compare this year's gross margin (Gross Profit divided by sales) to last year's.

Score 1 if this year's gross margin is higher, 0 if it's lower.

Gross Margin (This Year: TTM)=Gross Profit/Revenue
=12970/26134
=0.49628836

Gross Margin (Last Year: TTM)=Gross Profit/Revenue
=10725/27653
=0.38784219

Southern Co's gross margin of this year was 0.49628836. Southern Co's gross margin of last year was 0.38784219. ==> This year's gross margin is higher. ==> Score 1.

Question 9. Change in asset turnover

Compare this year's asset turnover (total sales for the year divided by total assets at the beginning of the year) to last year's asset turnover ratio.

Score 1 if this year's asset turnover ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower

Asset Turnover (This Year)=Revenue/Total Assets at the Beginning of This Year (Jun23)
=26134/137116
=0.19059774

Asset Turnover (Last Year)=Revenue/Total Assets at the Beginning of Last Year (Jun22)
=27653/130769
=0.21146449

Southern Co's asset turnover of this year was 0.19059774. Southern Co's asset turnover of last year was 0.21146449. ==> Last year's asset turnover is higher ==> Score 0.

Evaluation

Piotroski F-Score= Que. 1+ Que. 2+ Que. 3+Que. 4+Que. 5+Que. 6+Que. 7+Que. 8+Que. 9
=1+1+1+1+0+1+0+1+0
=6

Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3

Southern Co has an F-score of 6 indicating the company's financial situation is typical for a stable company.

Southern Co  (NYSE:SO) Piotroski F-Score Explanation

The developer of the system is Joseph D. Piotroski is relatively unknown accounting professor who shuns publicity and rarely gives interviews.

He graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in accounting in 1989, received an M.B.A. from Indiana University in 1994. Five years later, in 1999, after earning a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Michigan, he became an associate professor of accounting at the University of Chicago.

In 2000, he wrote a research paper called "Value Investing: The Use of Historical Financial Statement Information to Separate Winners from Losers" (pdf).

He wanted to see if he can develop a system (using a simple nine-point scoring system) that can increase the returns of a strategy of investing in low price to book (referred to in the paper as high book to market) value companies.

What he found was something that exceeded his most optimistic expectations.

Buying only those companies that scored highest (8 or 9) on his nine-point scale, or F-Score as he called it, over the 20 year period from 1976 to 1996 led to an average out-performance over the market of 13.4%.

Even more impressive were the results of a strategy of investing in the highest F-Score companies (8 or 9) and shorting companies with the lowest F-Score (0 or 1).

Over the same period from 1976 to 1996 (20 years) this strategy led to an average yearly return of 23%, substantially outperforming the average S&P 500 index return of 15.83% over the same period.


Southern Co Piotroski F-Score Related Terms

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Southern Co Business Description

Address
30 Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard, Northwest, Atlanta, GA, USA, 30308
Southern is one of the largest utilities in the U.S. The company serves 9 million customers with vertically integrated electric utilities in three states and natural gas distribution utilities in four states. It owns 50 gigawatts of rate-regulated generating capacity, primarily for serving customers in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. Subsidiary Southern Power owns 13 gigawatts of natural gas generation and renewable energy across the U.S. and sells the electricity primarily under long-term contracts.
Executives
Bryan D Anderson officer: EVP & Pres. External Affairs 30 IVAN ALLEN JR. BLVD. NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Spainhour Sterling A Jr. officer: EVP, Chief Legal Officer & CCO 4370 PEACHTREE ROAD, NE, ATLANTA GA 30319
Anthony L Wilson officer: President, Mississippi Power 30 IVAN ALLEN JR. BLVD, ATLANTA GA 30308
Sloane N Drake officer: EVP, CHRO 30 IVAN ALLEN JR BLVD NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Kimberly S, Greene officer: President & CEO, SCS 30 IVAN ALLEN JR. BLVD., NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Christopher Cummiskey officer: EVP & CCCS Officer 241 RALPH MCGILL BLVD., ATLANTA GA 30308
Stephen E Kuczynski officer: Pres. & CEO, Southern Nuclear 30 IVAN ALLEN JR. BLVD, NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
David P. Poroch officer: Comptroller 241 RALPH MCGILL BLVD., ATLANTA GA 30308
Shantella E. Cooper director 241 RALPH MCGILL BLVD., NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Martin Bernard Davis officer: EVP and CIO 520 GERVAIS STREET, C/O SOUTH STATE CORP, COLUMBIA SC 29201
Thomas A Fanning officer: CFO
Lizanne Thomas director 1420 PEACHTREE STREET NE, SUITE 800, ATLANTA GA 30309
David E Meador director ONE ENERGY PLAZA, DETROIT MI 48226
James Jeffrey Peoples officer: Chairman, President & CEO, APC 600 NORTH 18TH STREET, BIRMINGHAM AL 35203
Kerr, Ii James Y officer: Executive VP & General Counsel 30 IVAN ALLEN JR. BLVD., NW, ATLANTA GA 30308