DUK vs SO Stock Comparison

Duke Energy and Southern Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
DUK Duke Energy CORP
$124.97 +9.4% 1M -1.8% 1Y
Market cap
$96.91B
P/E
19.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$33.17B
Div. yield
0.03%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
9 wins
SO Southern Co
$92.89 +11.3% 1M -3.4% 1Y
Market cap
$105.25B
P/E
22.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$30.18B
Div. yield
0.03%
Regulated Electric Utilities Utilities
3 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Duke Energy leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Duke Energy 9, Southern 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionDUKSOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $96.91B $105.25B SO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 19.1x 22.6x DUK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.1x 19.2x DUK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.2% +6.4% DUK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 15.3% 15.4% SO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.4% 5.1% DUK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 5.2x 5.3x DUK
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.03% 0.03% DUK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -1.8% -3.4% DUK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.8%/yr +8.1%/yr SO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 16.6% 17.9% DUK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 56/100 43/100 DUK

Percentile Scorecard

DUKSO

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisDUKSO
Valuation 70 #21 of 67 33 #45 of 67
Growth 75 #17 of 65 55 #30 of 65
Profitability 80 #14 of 65 75 #17 of 65
Financial Health 35 #43 of 66 37 #42 of 66
Shareholder Returns 23 #52 of 67 15 #57 of 67
Overall 56 43
  • DUK ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities
  • SO ranked among 67 companies in Regulated Utilities

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodDUKSOSPY
1 month +9.4%+11.3% -1.0%
3 months -4.3%-4.5% +2.9%
6 months -1.8%-0.6% +6.4%
Year to date +6.6%+6.5% +11.4%
1 year -1.8%-3.4% +13.1%
3 years +42.4%+39.8% +79.4%
3 years, per year +12.5%+11.8% +21.5%
5 years +20.4%+47.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.8%+8.1% +10.9%
10 years +60.2%+83.8% +255.2%
10 years, per year +4.8%+6.3% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureDUKSOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 16.6%17.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 17.0%17.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y -0.31-0.23 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.11-0.19 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -26.0%-23.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -6.4%-6.3% -2.5%
52-week high $133.46$99.11 $779.14
52-week low $113.24$82.35 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleDUKSO
P/E now vs peer median 19.1xmedian 20.8x 22.7xmedian 20.8x
P/S now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 2.8x 3.5xmedian 2.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.0xmedian 13.1x 13.1xmedian 13.1x
P/FCF now vs peer median -29.5xmedian 36.7x -32.7xmedian 36.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 1.7x 2.5xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median 0.68median 2.27 0.71median 2.27

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsDUKSO
Revenue $33.17B $30.18B
Gross profit $24.71B $25.14B
Operating income $9.01B $7.31B
Net income $5.24B $4.66B
Free cash flow -$3.30B -$3.27B
EPS (diluted) $6.53 $4.08
Cash & equivalents $2.14B $2.98B
Total debt $352.76B $295.00B
Shares (diluted) 779.00M 1.14B
Enterprise value $93.49B $96.30B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricDUKSO
P/E 19.1x 22.7x
P/FCF -29.5x -32.7x
P/Operating cash flow 8.3x 10.0x
P/S 2.9x 3.5x
P/B 1.7x 2.5x
P/Tangible book 1.7x 2.5x
EV/EBITDA 11.0x 13.1x
EV/EBIT 20.6x 24.6x
EV/Revenue 5.6x 5.9x
EV/FCF -56.2x -54.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 15.9x 16.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.68 0.71

Growth

14 metrics
MetricDUKSO
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.2% 6.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 4.5% 3.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 12.9% 5.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 1.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 8.5% 1.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 12.2% 14.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 7.7% 8.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 29.1% 16.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.6% 5.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 28.1% 31.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -3.0% 15.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 27.6% 23.7%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -1,646% -152.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 19.6% -3.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricDUKSO
Gross margin 74.5% 83.3%
EBITDA margin 51.0% 45.2%
Operating margin 27.2% 24.2%
Pretax margin 18.1% 17.4%
Net margin 15.3% 15.4%
FCF margin -9.9% -10.8%
Operating cash flow margin 35.2% 35.3%
Return on equity 9.6% 9.2%
Return on assets 2.7% 2.9%
Return on invested capital 5.4% 5.1%
Return on capital employed 5.1% 5.1%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.2x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricDUKSO
Debt / assets 45.6% 46.6%
Debt / equity 1.6x 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 5.2x 5.3x
Debt / FCF -27.4x -23.1x
Liabilities / assets 71.5% 73.9%
Equity / assets 28.5% 26.1%
Interest coverage 2.4x 2.3x
Current ratio 0.7x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.3x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 0.73 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricDUKSO
Dividend yield 3.4% 3.2%
Net buyback yield – –
Shareholder yield 3.4% 3.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) 63.7% 66.6%
Payout ratio (FCF) -101.3% -94.8%
Dividend growth (1Y) 4.1% 4.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 1.5% 1.2%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusDUKSO
Forward P/E 19.1xFY2026 19.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.56FY2026 $4.84FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +4.0%FY2026 +12.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.4% -2.9%
Revenue, next fiscal year $32.40BFY2026 $31.53BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +0.5%FY2026 +6.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.1% +8.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersDUKSO
Held by institutions 69.7% 72.5%
Institutions holding 2,457 2,363
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.5% +5.7%
Institutions buying 1,297 1,248
Institutions selling 801 724
Buyers to sellers 1.62 1.72

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

DUKSO
DUK 1.00 0.86
SO 0.86 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, DUK and SO?

Southern (SO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Duke Energy (DUK) $96.91B, Southern (SO) $105.25B.

Which stock is cheaper, DUK and SO?

Duke Energy (DUK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Duke Energy (DUK) 19.1x, Southern (SO) 22.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Duke Energy (DUK) is cheapest (Duke Energy (DUK) 19.1x, Southern (SO) 19.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Duke Energy (DUK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Duke Energy (DUK) +7.2%, Southern (SO) +6.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Southern (SO) has the highest net margin (Duke Energy (DUK) 15.3%, Southern (SO) 15.4%). On return on invested capital, Duke Energy (DUK) leads (Duke Energy (DUK) 5.4%, Southern (SO) 5.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Duke Energy (DUK) returned the most: Duke Energy (DUK) -1.8%, Southern (SO) -3.4%. Over five years, Southern (SO) compounded fastest (Duke Energy (DUK) +3.8%/yr, Southern (SO) +8.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Duke Energy (DUK) has the highest dividend yield: Duke Energy (DUK) 0.03%, Southern (SO) 0.03%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Duke Energy (DUK) has been the steadiest (Duke Energy (DUK) 16.6%, Southern (SO) 17.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do DUK and SO move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.86, a strong positive relationship. Holding both adds little diversification.

Which is the better stock, DUK and SO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Duke Energy (DUK) leads on 9. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.