Is Southern Stock a Good Investment?

Southern Investment Advice

  SO
To provide specific investment advice or recommendations on Southern Company stock, we recommend investors consider the following general factors when evaluating Southern Company. This will help you to make an informed decision on whether to include Southern in one of your diversified portfolios:
  • Examine Southern's financial health by looking at its balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. Analyze key financial ratios, such as Price-to-Earnings (P/E), Price-to-Sales (P/S), and Price-to-Book (P/B), to determine whether the stock is fairly valued or over/undervalued.
  • Research Southern's leadership team and their track record. Good management can help Southern navigate difficult times and make strategic decisions that benefit shareholders and increases its net worth.
  • Consider the overall health of the Electric Utilities space and any emerging trends that could impact Southern's business and its evolving consumer preferences.
  • Compare Southern's performance and market position to its competitors. Analyze how Southern is positioned in terms of product offerings, innovation, and market share.
  • Check if Southern pays a dividend and its dividend yield and payout ratio.
  • Review what financial analysts are saying about Southern's stock and their price targets. However, remember that analysts' opinions can vary, and their predictions may not always be accurate.
It's important to note that investing in Southern Company stock, carries risks, and you should carefully consider your investment goals and risk tolerance before making any investment decisions. Also, remember that it's important for investors to have a long-term perspective and a well-diversified portfolio to manage the impact of stock market volatility on their investments. Below is a detailed guide on how to decide if Southern Company is a good investment.
 
Sell
 
Buy
Strong Hold
Macroaxis provides recommendation on Southern to complement and cross-verify current analyst consensus on Southern Company. Our trade recommendation engine determines the firm's potential to grow exclusively from the perspective of an investor's current risk tolerance and investing horizon. To make sure Southern is not overpriced, please validate all Southern fundamentals, including its book value per share, and the relationship between the net income and number of employees . Given that Southern has a price to earning of 20.67 X, we advise you to double-check Southern Company market performance and probability of bankruptcy to ensure the company can sustain itself in the current economic cycle given your current risk tolerance and investing horizon.

Market Performance

WeakDetails

Volatility

Very steadyDetails

Hype Condition

Low keyDetails

Current Valuation

OvervaluedDetails

Odds Of Distress

Below AverageDetails

Economic Sensitivity

Moves indifferently to market movesDetails

Investor Sentiment

AlarmedDetails

Analyst Consensus

BuyDetails

Financial Strenth (F Score)

HealthyDetails

Financial Leverage

Not RatedDetails

Reporting Quality (M-Score)

Unlikely ManipulatorDetails

Examine Southern Stock

Researching Southern's stock involves analyzing various aspects of the company and its industry to make an informed investment decision. The key areas to focus on are fundamentals, business model and competitive advantage. It is also important to analyze trends in revenue, net income, and cash flow, as well as key financial ratios, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and debt-to-equity (D/E). About 71.0% of the company shares are owned by institutional investors. The book value of Southern was at this time reported as 30.39. The company last dividend was issued on the 18th of November 2024. Southern had 10000:6109 split on the 3rd of April 2001.
To determine if Southern is a good investment, evaluating the company's potential for future growth is also very important. This may include expanding into new markets, launching new products or services, or improving operational efficiency. Companies with strong growth prospects can be more attractive investments. This aspect of the research should be conducted in the context of the overall market and industry in which the company operates and should include an analysis of growth potential, competitive landscape, and any regulatory or economic factors that could impact the business. Some of the essential points regarding Southern's research are outlined below:
Southern Company reports 63.49 B of total liabilities with total debt to equity ratio (D/E) of 1.7, which is normal for its line of buisiness. Southern has a current ratio of 0.83, implying that it has not enough working capital to pay out debt commitments in time. Note however, debt could still be an excellent tool for Southern to invest in growth at high rates of return.
About 71.0% of Southern shares are owned by institutional investors
Latest headline from gurufocus.com: Virgil Miller named to Georgia Power Board of Directors
Southern uses earnings reports to provide investors with an update of all three financial statements, including the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. Therefore, it is also crucial when considering investing in Southern Company. Every quarterly earnings report provides investors with an overview of sales, expenses, and net income for the most recent period. It also may provide a comparison to Southern's previous reporting period. The quarterly earnings reports are usually disseminated to the public via Form 10-Q, which is a legal document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission every quarter.
15th of February 2024
Upcoming Quarterly Report
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25th of April 2024
Next Financial Report
View
31st of December 2023
Next Fiscal Quarter End
View
15th of February 2024
Next Fiscal Year End
View
30th of September 2023
Last Quarter Report
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31st of December 2022
Last Financial Announcement
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Earnings surprises can significantly impact Southern's stock price both in the short term and over time. Negative earnings surprises usually result in a price decline. However, it has been seen that positive earnings surprises lead to an immediate rise in a stock's price and a gradual increase over time. This is why we often hear news about some companies beating earning projections. Financial analysts spend a large amount of time predicting earnings per share (EPS) along with other important future indicators. Many analysts use forecasting models, management guidance, and additional fundamental information to derive an EPS estimate. Below are the table of largest EPS Surprises Southern's investors have experienced.
Reported
Fiscal Date
Estimated EPS
Reported EPS
Surprise
2005-01-25
2004-12-310.210.240.0314 
2002-04-18
2002-03-310.290.320.0310 
2001-01-19
2000-12-310.240.21-0.0312 
2006-04-25
2006-03-310.390.35-0.0410 
1998-07-20
1998-06-300.350.390.0411 
1998-04-20
1998-03-310.310.350.0412 
1997-01-20
1996-12-310.250.21-0.0416 
2021-02-18
2020-12-310.420.470.0511 

Know Southern's Top Institutional Investors

Have you ever been surprised when a price of an equity instrument such as Southern is soaring high without any particular reason? This is usually happening because many institutional investors are aggressively trading Southern Company backward and forwards among themselves. Southern's institutional investor refers to the entity that pools money to purchase Southern's securities or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial and private banks, credit unions, insurance companies, pension funds, hedge funds, endowments, and mutual funds. Operating companies that invest excess capital in these types of assets may also be included in the term and may influence corporate governance by exercising voting rights in their investments.
Shares
Mizuho Securities Usa Inc2024-09-30
14.6 M
Franklin Resources Inc2024-09-30
14.2 M
Norges Bank2024-06-30
10.6 M
Legal & General Group Plc2024-06-30
10.6 M
Northern Trust Corp2024-09-30
10.3 M
Ameriprise Financial Inc2024-06-30
9.5 M
Bank Of America Corp2024-06-30
8.5 M
Nuveen Asset Management, Llc2024-06-30
7.5 M
Royal Bank Of Canada2024-06-30
7.1 M
Vanguard Group Inc2024-09-30
102.1 M
Blackrock Inc2024-06-30
77.7 M
Note, although Southern's institutional investors appear to be way more sophisticated than retail investors, it remains unclear if professional active investment managers can reliably enhance risk-adjusted returns by an amount that exceeds fees and expenses.

Southern's market capitalization trends

The company currently falls under 'Large-Cap' category with a market capitalization of 95.98 B.

Market Cap

41.79 Billion

Southern's profitablity analysis

Last ReportedProjected for Next Year
Return On Tangible Assets 0.03  0.03 
Return On Capital Employed 0.05  0.08 
Return On Assets 0.03  0.04 
Return On Equity 0.13  0.13 
The company has Net Profit Margin (PM) of 0.18 %, which suggests that even a small decline in it sales will erase profits and may result in a net loss, or a negative profit margin. This is way below average. Likewise, it shows Net Operating Margin (NOM) of 0.35 %, which signifies that for every $100 of sales, it has a net operating income of $0.35.
Determining Southern's profitability involves analyzing its financial statements and using various financial metrics to determine if Southern is a good buy. For example, gross profit margin measures Southern's profitability after accounting for the cost of goods sold, while net profit margin measures profitability after accounting for all expenses. Other important metrics include return on assets, return on equity, and free cash flow. By reviewing multiple sources and metrics, you can gain a complete picture of Southern's profitability and make more informed investment decisions.

Evaluate Southern's management efficiency

Southern has Return on Asset (ROA) of 0.0348 % which means that for every $100 of assets, it generated a profit of $0.0348. This is way below average. Likewise, it shows a return on total equity (ROE) of 0.1271 %, which means that it produced $0.1271 on every 100 dollars invested by current stockholders. Southern's management efficiency ratios could be used to measure how well Southern manages its routine affairs as well as how well it operates its assets and liabilities. As of the 24th of November 2024, Return On Tangible Assets is likely to grow to 0.03. Also, Return On Capital Employed is likely to grow to 0.08. At this time, Southern's Fixed Asset Turnover is very stable compared to the past year. As of the 24th of November 2024, Return On Assets is likely to grow to 0.04, while Total Assets are likely to drop about 72 B.
Last ReportedProjected for Next Year
Book Value Per Share 32.26  16.49 
Tangible Book Value Per Share 27.19  25.83 
Enterprise Value Over EBITDA 11.86  7.46 
Price Book Value Ratio 2.44  1.50 
Enterprise Value Multiple 11.86  7.46 
Price Fair Value 2.44  1.50 
Enterprise Value61.6 B47.8 B
The management team at Southern has a track record of steering the company towards sustained growth. Evaluating their strategies helps in understanding the stock's long-term potential.
Dividend Yield
0.0329
Forward Dividend Yield
0.0329
Forward Dividend Rate
2.88
Beta
0.509

Basic technical analysis of Southern Stock

As of the 24th of November, Southern has the Semi Deviation of 0.9384, coefficient of variation of 2622.66, and Risk Adjusted Performance of 0.0316. In relation to fundamental indicators, the technical analysis model makes it possible for you to check existing technical drivers of Southern, as well as the relationship between them.

Southern's insider trading activities

Some recent studies suggest that insider trading raises the cost of capital for securities issuers and decreases overall economic growth. Trading by specific Southern insiders, such as employees or executives, is commonly permitted as long as it does not rely on Southern's material information that is not in the public domain. Local jurisdictions usually require such trading to be reported in order to monitor insider transactions. In many U.S. states, trading conducted by corporate officers, key employees, directors, or significant shareholders must be reported to the regulator or publicly disclosed, usually within a few business days of the trade. In these cases Southern insiders are required to file a Form 4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when buying or selling shares of their own companies.

Southern's Outstanding Corporate Bonds

Southern issues bonds to finance its operations. Corporate bonds make up one of the largest components of the U.S. bond market, which is considered the world's largest securities market. Southern uses the proceeds from bond sales for a wide variety of purposes, including financing ongoing mergers and acquisitions, buying new equipment, investing in research and development, buying back their own stock, paying dividends to shareholders, and even refinancing existing debt. Most Southern bonds can be classified according to their maturity, which is the date when Southern Company has to pay back the principal to investors. Maturities can be short-term, medium-term, or long-term (more than ten years). Longer-term bonds usually offer higher interest rates but may entail additional risks.

Understand Southern's technical and predictive indicators

Using predictive indicators to make investment decisions involves analyzing Southern's various financial and market-based factors to help forecast future trends and identify investment opportunities. Select the indicators that are most relevant to your investment strategy. Each indicator has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it's essential to combine multiple indicators to get a more comprehensive view of the market and reduce the risk of making poor decisions based on limited data.

Consider Southern's intraday indicators

Southern intraday indicators are useful technical analysis tools used by many experienced traders. Just like the conventional technical analysis, daily indicators help intraday investors to analyze the price movement with the timing of Southern stock daily movement. By combining multiple daily indicators into a single trading strategy, you can limit your risk while still earning strong returns on your managed positions.

Southern Corporate Filings

F4
15th of November 2024
The report filed by a party regarding the acquisition or disposition of a company's common stock, as well as derivative securities such as options, warrants, and convertible securities
ViewVerify
10Q
31st of October 2024
Quarterly performance report mandated by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to be filed by publicly traded corporations
ViewVerify
8K
9th of September 2024
Report filed with the SEC to announce major events that shareholders should know about
ViewVerify
5th of September 2024
Prospectus used primarily for registering securities for public sale.
ViewVerify
Southern time-series forecasting models is one of many Southern's stock analysis techniques aimed to predict future share value based on previously observed values. Time-series forecasting models ae widely used for non-stationary data. Non-stationary data are called the data whose statistical properties e.g. the mean and standard deviation are not constant over time but instead, these metrics vary over time. These non-stationary Southern's historical data is usually called time-series. Some empirical experimentation suggests that the statistical forecasting models outperform the models based exclusively on fundamental analysis to predict the direction of the market movement and maximize returns from investment trading.

Southern Stock media impact

Far too much social signal, news, headlines, and media speculation about Southern that are available to investors today. That information is available publicly through Southern media outlets and privately through word of mouth or via Southern internal channels. However, regardless of the origin, that massive amount of Southern data is challenging to quantify into actionable patterns, especially for investors that are not very sophisticated with ever-evolving tools and techniques used in the investment management field.
A primary focus of Southern news analysis is to determine if its current price reflects all relevant headlines and social signals impacting the current market conditions. A news analyst typically looks at the history of Southern relative headlines and hype rather than examining external drivers such as technical or fundamental data. It is believed that price action tends to repeat itself due to investors' collective, patterned thinking related to Southern's headlines and news coverage data. This data is often completely overlooked or insufficiently analyzed for actionable insights to drive Southern alpha.

Southern Sentiment by Major News Outlets

Investor sentiment, mood or attitude towards Southern can have a significant impact on its stock price or the market as a whole. This sentiment can be positive or negative, and various factors, such as economic indicators, news events, or market trends, can influence it. When investor sentiment is positive, investors are more likely to buy stocks, increasing demand and increasing the stock price. Positive investor sentiment can be driven by good news about the company or the broader market, such as solid earnings reports or positive economic data.
Note that negative investor sentiment can cause investors to sell stocks, leading to a decrease in demand and a drop in the stock price. Negative sentiment can be driven by factors such as poor earnings reports, negative news about the company or industry, or broader economic concerns. It's important to note that investor sentiment is just one of many factors that can affect stock prices. Other factors, such as company performance, industry trends, and global economic conditions, can also play a significant role in determining the value of a stock.

Southern Historical Investor Sentiment

Investor biases related to Southern's public news can be used to forecast risks associated with an investment in Southern. The trend in average sentiment can be used to explain how an investor holding Southern can time the market purely based on public headlines and social activities around Southern Company. Please note that most equities that are difficult to arbitrage are affected by market sentiment the most.
Southern's market sentiment shows the aggregated news analyzed to detect positive and negative mentions from the text and comments. The data is normalized to provide daily scores for Southern and other traded tickers. The bigger the bubble, the more accurate the estimated score. Higher bars for a given day show more participation in the average Southern news discussions. The higher the estimate score, the more favorable the investor's outlook on Southern.

Southern Corporate Directors

Henry ClarkIndependent DirectorProfile
William SmithPresiding Independent DirectorProfile
John JohnsIndependent DirectorProfile
Donald JamesIndependent DirectorProfile
Check out World Market Map to better understand how to build diversified portfolios, which includes a position in Southern Company. Also, note that the market value of any company could be closely tied with the direction of predictive economic indicators such as signals in persons.
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Is Electric Utilities space expected to grow? Or is there an opportunity to expand the business' product line in the future? Factors like these will boost the valuation of Southern. If investors know Southern will grow in the future, the company's valuation will be higher. The financial industry is built on trying to define current growth potential and future valuation accurately. All the valuation information about Southern listed above have to be considered, but the key to understanding future value is determining which factors weigh more heavily than others.
Quarterly Earnings Growth
0.078
Dividend Share
2.84
Earnings Share
4.29
Revenue Per Share
24.135
Quarterly Revenue Growth
0.042
The market value of Southern is measured differently than its book value, which is the value of Southern that is recorded on the company's balance sheet. Investors also form their own opinion of Southern's value that differs from its market value or its book value, called intrinsic value, which is Southern's true underlying value. Investors use various methods to calculate intrinsic value and buy a stock when its market value falls below its intrinsic value. Because Southern's market value can be influenced by many factors that don't directly affect Southern's underlying business (such as a pandemic or basic market pessimism), market value can vary widely from intrinsic value.
In summary, please note that there is a difference between Southern's value and its price, as these two are different measures arrived at by various means. Investors typically determine if Southern is a good investment by looking at such factors as earnings, sales, fundamental and technical indicators, competition as well as analyst projections. However, Southern's price is the amount at which it trades on the open market and represents the number that a seller and buyer find agreeable to each party.