The Southern Company (NYSE:SO): An Opportunity for Fundamental Investors?

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) shares traded higher over the last trading session, gaining 1.71% on 06/21/21. The shares fell to a low of $61.535 before closing at $62.50. Intraday shares traded counted 4.24 million, which was -6.79% lower than its 30-day average trading volume of 3.97M. SO’s previous close was $61.45 while the outstanding shares total 1.06B. The firm has a beta of 0.45, a 12-month trailing P/E ratio of 19.66, and a growth ratio of 3.02. The stock’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) is 41.88, with weekly volatility at 2.08% and ATR at 0.98. The SO stock’s 52-week price range has touched low of $50.40 and a $66.93 high.

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Investors have identified the Utilities – Regulated Electric company The Southern Company as an interesting stock but before investments are made there, an in-depth look at its trading activities will have to be conducted. The share is trading with a market value of around $68.21 billion, the company now has both obstacles and catalysts that affect them and they came from their mode of operations. With the company affected by events currently, it is a perfect time to analyze the numbers behind the firm in order to come up with a rather realistic picture of what this stock is.

The Southern Company (SO) Fundamentals that are to be considered.

When analyzing a stock, the first fundamental thing to take into account is the balance sheet. How healthy the balance sheet of a company is will determine if the company will be able to carry out all its financial and non-financial obligations and also keep the faith of its investors. For SO, the company has in raw cash 1.77 billion on their books with 3.54 billion currently as liabilities. How the trend is over time is what investors should be concerned about. The company has a healthy balance sheet as their debt profile has been on an incline. In terms of their assets, the company currently has 9.47 billion total, with 11.59 billion as their total liabilities.

SO were able to record -436.0 million as free cash flow during the 08/04/2021 quarter of the year, this saw their quarterly net cash flow reduce by 733.0 million. In cash movements, the company had a total of 1.24 billion as operating cash flow.

Potential earnings growth for The Southern Company (SO)

In order to determine the future investment potential for this stock, we will have to analyze key trends that affect it. During the 08/04/2021 quarter of the year, The Southern Company recorded a total of 5.91 billion in revenue. This figure implies that they witnessed a quarterly year/year change in their earnings with 15.09% coming in sequential stages and their sales for the 08/04/2021 quarter increasing by 13.42%.

What matters though is how it ends. When the core data for the company is broken down, then the stock sounds interesting. The company spent 4.31 billion trying to sell their products during the last quarter, with the result yielding a gross income of 1.6 billion. This allows shareholders to hold on to 1.06B with the recently reported earning now reading 1.07 cents per share. This is a figure that compared to analyst’s prediction for their 08/04/2021 (0.98 cents a share).

Having a look at the company’s valuation, the company is expected to record 3.57 total earnings per share during the next fiscal year. It is very important though to remember that the importance of trend far outweighs that of outlook. This analysis has been great and getting further updates on SO sounds very interesting.

Is the stock of SO attractive?

In related news, Pres. & CEO, Southern Nuclear, Kuczynski Stephen E sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that recorded on Jun 01. The sale was performed at an average price of 64.13, for a total value of 160,325. As the sale deal closes, the Pres. & CEO, Southern Nuclear, Kuczynski Stephen E now sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at 166,125. Also, Comptroller, Daiss Ann P sold 4,425 shares of the company’s stock in a deal that was recorded on May 04. The shares were price at an average price of 66.05 per share, with a total market value of 292,271. Following this completion of acquisition, the EVP, Chief Legal Officer & CCO, Kerr, II James Y now holds 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at 1,654,000. In the last 6 months, insiders have changed their ownership in shares of company stock by 0.30%.

10 out of 19 analysts covering the stock have rated it a Buy, while 4 have maintained a Hold recommendation on The Southern Company. 4 analysts has assigned a Sell rating on the SO stock. The 12-month mean consensus price target for the company’s shares has been set at $67.97.