Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. SO scored 51.4, CIG scored 66.6 — CIG leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. CIG's fundamentals are as of June 2026, but SO's are as of March 2026 — a 3-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
SO
The Southern Company
Utilities - Regulated Electric · Quality-Growth
51.4
$86.17 · $99.1B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
15.2
CIG leads
CIG
Companhia Energética de Minas Gerais - CEMIG
Utilities - Regulated Electric · Quality-Growth
66.6
$2.40 · $6.9B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
Fastest growthSO+8.3%
Strongest balance sheetCIG0.78
Highest qualityCIG81 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueCIG-19%
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
SO
stronger →← stronger
CIG
56
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
81
63
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
60
38
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
83
CIG is stronger on 2 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
SO
CIG
-$3.5bF
FCF
$518mC+
+8.3%B
Rev
+7.4%B
1.82C+
D/E
0.78A
3.3xC+
P/S
—
2.04C
PEG
0.33A
—
P/E
7.7xA
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
SO
CIG
—
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
19% below
—
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~1%/yr
—
1-yr DCF upside
+17%
—
5-yr DCF upside
+24%
—
10-yr DCF upside
+35%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
SO
Why this score
Durable high returns
Diluting shareholders
CIG
Why this score
Durable high returns
Cut its dividend
Foreign reporter (BRL)
The companies
SOThe Southern Company
Utilities - Regulated Electric · $86.17 · beta 0.30
Why now
Utilities - Regulated Electric · market cap $99.1b. 15% off the 52-week high of $100.84. 19 sell-side analysts rate this a Hold with a mean 1-yr target of $98.13 (implying +14% upside).
Moat
Net margin 14% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 11% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. $99.1b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Free cash flow is negative (-$3.5b) — capital raises or debt issuance likely required; dilution / leverage risk.
CIGCompanhia Energética de Minas Gerais - CEMIG
Utilities - Regulated Electric · $2.40 · beta 0.06
Why now
Utilities - Regulated Electric · market cap $6.9b. 13% off the 52-week high of $2.76. PEG 0.33 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 3 sell-side analysts publish a mean 1-yr target of $2.05 (implying -14% upside).
Moat
ROE 16% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately.
Risk
Dividend payout 79% of earnings on a 6.2% yield — distribution coverage is thin; one earnings stumble could force a dividend cut.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where SO and CIG diverge
On the headline score the gap is 15.2 points in favor of CIG. The widest single difference is Value, where CIG leads by 44.8 points.
ValueSO 38.3 · CIG 83.1CIG +44.8
QualitySO 56.4 · CIG 81.0CIG +24.6
GrowthSO 62.9 · CIG 60.2level
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is CIG or SO the better stock?
CIG scores higher: CIG 66.6, SO 51.4 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do CIG and SO differ most?
The widest gap is value, where CIG leads by 45 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. CIG also leads quality, while growth is effectively level between them.
How are CIG and SO scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.