Southern Co (SO): Today's Featured Utilities Laggard

Southern was a leading decliner within the utilities sector, falling $0.58 (-1.3%) to $44.84 on heavy volume
By TheStreet Wire ,

Editor's Note: Any reference to TheStreet Ratings and its underlying recommendation does not reflect the opinion of TheStreet, Inc. or any of its contributors including Jim Cramer or Stephanie Link.

Southern

(

SO

) pushed the Utilities sector lower today making it today's featured Utilities laggard. The sector as a whole closed the day down 0.2%. By the end of trading, Southern fell $0.58 (-1.3%) to $44.84 on heavy volume. Throughout the day, 9,578,573 shares of Southern exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 4,488,100 shares. The stock ranged in price between $44.20-$45.33 after having opened the day at $44.91 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $45.42. Other companies within the Utilities sector that declined today were:

GreenHunter Resources

(

GRH

), down 6.3%,

FirstEnergy

(

FE

), down 3.1%,

Entergy

(

ETR

), down 3.0% and

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras

(

EBR

), down 2.9%.

The Southern Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a public electric utility company. Southern has a market cap of $39.5 billion and is part of the utilities industry. Shares are up 6.1% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday. Currently there is 1 analyst that rates Southern a buy, 2 analysts rate it a sell, and 12 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates

Southern

as a

buy

. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had sub par growth in net income.

On the positive front,

Beacon Power

(

BCON

), up 9.1%,

Southcross Energy Partners

(

SXE

), up 3.5%,

American Midstream Partners

(

AMID

), up 3.5% and

ONEOK

(

OKE

), up 2.2%.

For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the utilities sector could consider

Utilities Select Sector SPDR

(

XLU

) while those bearish on the utilities sector could consider

ProShares UltraShort Utilities

(

SDP

).

STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12-months. Learn more.

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