AEP vs SO
American Electric Power Co Inc (AEP) and Southern Co (SO) are both filed with the SEC under Electric Services. SO is 1.5× AEP's size by market cap ($100.4B against $66.8B); SO trades at the higher fiscal-year P/E (22.7× against 18.4×); AEP reports the higher net margin (16.9% against 14.7%); AEP grew sales faster over three years (+3.7% against +0.3%); and over the past year AEP returned +12.0% against SO's -2.0%.
| AEP | SO | |
|---|---|---|
| Last close | $122.31 | $88.25 |
| Market cap | $66.8B | $100.4B |
| P/E (FY) | 18.4× | 22.7× |
| P/S | 3.1× | 3.4× |
| EV/EBITDA | 13.2× | 12.8× |
| Operating margin | 24.3% | 24.7% |
| Net margin | 16.9% | 14.7% |
| Return on equity | 12.7% | 12.5% |
| Sales growth (3y) | +3.7% | +0.3% |
| EPS growth (3y) | +14.0% | +6.3% |
| Dividend yield | 3.0% | 3.0% |
| 1-year return | +12.0% | -2.0% |
Screener snapshot — prices as of 2026-08-28. Each side's last close is the most recent session the snapshot holds for that company, which can be an earlier one, and its 1-year return is measured to that close. Market caps struck on 2026-08-27. Last close, market cap and the 1-year return are price figures; every other row is computed over the company's latest filed fiscal year — FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31) for both.
Who holds them, and who has traded them
| AEP | SO | |
|---|---|---|
| Institutional holders (13F) | 1,910 | 2,334 |
| Insider buyers − sellers (180d) | — | -4 |
| Congressional trades disclosed (180d) | 1 | 0 |
| Executive-branch officials on file — trades disclosed (180d) | 6 | 14 |
Counts only. The congressional figures count transactions dated in the trailing 180 days and disclosed in STOCK Act periodic transaction reports; amounts are filed as ranges and are never summed. The executive-branch figures count the same window of transactions, and they are scoped to one roster. The officials OGE posts for direct download. Insider buyers − sellers counts distinct people filing open-market Form 4 purchases minus distinct people filing open-market sales over the trailing 180 days, capped at ±5. — no open-market Form 4 purchases or sales in the window.
AEP vs SO: common questions
- Is AEP bigger than SO?
- SO carries the larger market cap — $100.4B against $66.8B, both struck on 2026-08-27.
- Which trades at a higher P/E, AEP or SO?
- SO, at a fiscal-year 22.7× against 18.4× for AEP. Both are price ÷ latest full-year diluted earnings per share, not a trailing-twelve-month P/E.
- How have AEP and SO performed over the past year?
- AEP returned +12.0% and SO -2.0%, measured on the trailing calendar year to the last close.
- How many institutions hold AEP and SO?
- 1,910 13F filers report a position in AEP and 2,334 in SO, on the latest quarter in the panel.
- Are AEP and SO in the same industry?
- Both are filed with the SEC under Electric Services, which is the classification this pairing is built on.
AEP overview → · SO overview → · AEP institutional ownership → · SO institutional ownership → · Congress and AEP → · Executive branch and AEP → · Executive branch and SO →
More in Electric Services: AEP vs CEG · AEP vs D · AEP vs ETR · AEP vs NEE
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Source: SPZCO — https://spzco.com/vs/aep-vs-so