5 Best Electric Utility Stocks to Buy Now

2. The Southern Company (NYSE: SO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35

The Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is a Georgia-based electric and gas utility company serving 9 million customers in 6 states. It is ranked second on our list of 10 best electric utility stocks to buy now. The stock has returned over 18.95% to investors over the course of the past year.

On July 29, The Southern Company (NYSE: SO) posted earnings for the second quarter of 2021, reporting earnings per share of $0.84, beating estimates by $0.06. The revenue over the period was around $5.20 billion, up 12.6% year-over-year.

At the end of the first quarter of 2021, 35 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $464 million in The Southern Company (NYSE: SO), up from 32 the preceding quarter worth $400 million.

Out of the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, billionaire Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management has increased its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE: SO) in the second quarter of 2021 by 5% to $4.8 million. 

Moreover, John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors has increased their stake in The Southern Company (NYSE: SO) in the first quarter of 2021 by 88% to close to $107 million, comprising 0.29% of its total 13F portfolio. This stake is the most valuable position in The Southern Company (NYSE: SO) for the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, as of the end of the first quarter of 2021.