DUK vs SO

Duke Energy and Southern Company, both Utilities

Southern Company is the larger company at $105B against $97B. On trailing earnings DUK is the cheaper of the two at a P/E of 18.7 against 23.0, a gap that is only a bargain if the two are growing at similar rates. Over the past year DUK returned +0.7% against -2.1% for SO. Ryufin's sector-relative Smart Score puts DUK ahead, 6/10 against 4/10.

Duke Energy and Southern Companycompared on valuation, return and Ryufin’s Smart Score
FigureDUKSO
Last close$122$89.76
Market cap$97B$105B
Trailing P/Elower is cheaper for the same earnings, not automatically better18.723.0
Dividend yield3.5%3.3%
1-year return+0.7%-2.1%
5-year return+41%+69%
Ryufin Smart Scoresector-relative, 1–106/104/10

Figures from SEC filings and end-of-day closes. Highlighting marks the higher or lower number, which is not the same as the better investment, a low P/E can be a warning and a high one can be deserved.

Duke Energy

Revenue of $9.2B in Q1 2026, net income $1.6B. Its largest reported line is Electric Utilitiesand Infrastructure, 94% of the disclosed total.

Southern Company

Revenue of $8.4B in Q1 2026, net income $1.3B. Its largest reported line is Retail Electric Commercial, 19% of the disclosed total.

Open these two in the interactive comparison to add more names, change the period or read the correlation.