NEE vs SO

NextEra Energy and Southern Company, both Utilities

NextEra Energy is the larger company at $181B against $105B. On trailing earnings NEE is the cheaper of the two at a P/E of 21.4 against 23.0, a gap that is only a bargain if the two are growing at similar rates. Over the past year NEE returned +23% against -2.1% for SO. Ryufin's sector-relative Smart Score puts NEE ahead, 10/10 against 4/10.

NextEra Energy and Southern Companycompared on valuation, return and Ryufin’s Smart Score
FigureNEESO
Last close$84.21$89.76
Market cap$181B$105B
Trailing P/Elower is cheaper for the same earnings, not automatically better21.423.0
Dividend yield2.7%3.3%
1-year return+23%-2.1%
5-year return+23%+69%
Ryufin Smart Scoresector-relative, 1–1010/104/10

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.

NextEra Energy

Revenue of $6.7B in Q1 2026, net income $2.2B.

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.