#7 - Southern (NYSE:SO)
Southern (SO) Maybe you’re a more traditional buy-and-hold investor. If so Southern (NYSE:SO) is an ideal stock for your portfolio. Southern has increased its dividend for the last 18 consecutive years and has increased its dividend an average of 2.54% over the last three years. But the company has been growing something else for the last three years, profit. SO has averaged an 18% gain in the stock over the last three years.
Utilities aren’t the most glamorous of stocks, but they have the advantage of having regional monopolies. This means while they have razor thin margins, they have pricing power.
Southern Company operates primarily in the south, but does have a reach in other regions. Even though analysts are somewhat sour on the company’s 12-month outlook, they have a price target that, with the recent correction suggests a near 10% upside. But with utility stocks, any growth you get is the cherry on top of the sundae. Southern has a solid dividend that’s backed up by a predictable revenue stream.
About Southern
The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.
Read More - Current Price
- $89.73
- Consensus Rating
- Hold
- Ratings Breakdown
- 7 Buy Ratings, 8 Hold Ratings, 1 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $89.47 (0.3% Downside)
