SO vs DUK Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Compare Southern Company and Duke Energy by nuclear energy investment, clean energy transition pace, regulatory relationships, earnings per share growth guidance, and which integrated utility offers better income and stability.
Use this Southern Company vs Duke Energy comparison to evaluate the key differences across valuation, growth, profitability, and risk before making an investment decision.
DUK holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. DUK leads on both 1-year return (-2.38%) and forward P/E quality (16.77x vs 17.92x for SO), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, DUK is growing revenue faster (1.10%), while SO maintains the higher operating margin (29.61%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: +13.64% for SO and +14.16% for DUK.
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
| Metric | SO | DUK |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 41.3 | 41.3 |
| AI ranki | #1061 | #1056 |
| Latest closei | $85.52 | $117.53 |
| 1M returni | -7.24% | -4.91% |
| 6M returni | -11.13% | -9.41% |
| 1Y returni | -6.48% | -2.38% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | SO | DUK |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $9.35K (-6.5%) started 2025-09-18 | $9.76K (-2.4%) started 2025-09-18 |
| 5Y ago | $17.93K (+79.3%) started 2021-09-20 | $16.07K (+60.7%) started 2021-09-20 |
| 10Y ago | $36.89K (+268.9%) started 2016-09-19 | $32.39K (+223.9%) started 2016-09-19 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | SO | DUK |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $101.52B | $93.76B |
| Trailing P/Ei | 21.27 | 18.11 |
| Forward P/Ei | 17.92 | 16.77 |
| Price/Salesi | 3.49 | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 5.91 | 5.74 |
| Analyst targeti | $100.29 | $137.28 |
| Target upsidei | +13.64% | +14.16% |
| Metric | SO | DUK |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 0.10% | 1.10% |
| Earnings growthi | 30.40% | 10.60% |
| EPS growthi | +30.40% | +10.60% |
| FCF margini | -12.97% | -13.65% |
| Operating margini | 29.61% | 27.50% |
| Profit margini | 15.43% | 16.00% |
| ROIC proxyi | 11.48% | 9.86% |
| Return on equityi | 11.48% | 9.86% |
| Dividend yieldi | 3.44% | 3.61% |
| Payout ratioi | 71.81% | 64.16% |
| Dividend growth streaki | No increase yet | No increase yet |
| Betai | 0.33 | 0.37 |
| Debt/equityi | 182.06 | 162.16 |
| Current ratioi | 0.79 | 0.66 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.44 | 0.26 |
Over the past year, SO and DUK have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.85), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | SO | DUK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -6.48% | -2.38% |
| CAGRi | -6.49% | -2.38% | |
| Volatilityi | 17.26% | 16.00% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.56 | -0.35 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.79 | -0.48 | |
| Max drawdowni | 15.68% | 11.94% | |
| Current drawdowni | 14.24% | 11.94% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.83% | 5.25% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 7.93% | 6.21% | |
| Max daily dropi | 3.28% | 2.93% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 5.84% | 5.99% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +54.17% | +36.98% |
| CAGRi | +9.05% | +6.50% | |
| Volatilityi | 18.76% | 17.97% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.32 | 0.19 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.45 | 0.27 | |
| Max drawdowni | 23.28% | 24.16% | |
| Current drawdowni | 14.24% | 11.94% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 6.44% | 7.10% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 8.20% | 9.09% | |
| Max daily dropi | 4.70% | 4.70% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 11.77% | 10.31% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +136.33% | +109.95% |
| CAGRi | +8.98% | +7.70% | |
| Volatilityi | 21.99% | 20.43% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.30 | 0.25 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.43 | 0.35 | |
| Max drawdowni | 38.43% | 37.37% | |
| Current drawdowni | 14.24% | 11.94% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 7.35% | 6.83% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 9.52% | 8.96% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.77% | 11.50% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 23.39% | 20.25% |
| Category | SO | DUK |
|---|---|---|
| Company | SO | DUK |
| Sector | Utilities | Utilities |
| Industry | Utilities - Regulated Electric | Utilities - Regulated Electric |
| Core business | The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the sale of electricity. | Duke Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. |
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