15 Best Stocks to Buy During Recession

12. The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 53

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) is engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. Barclays upped the company’s price objective to $90 from $83, keeping an “Equal Weight” rating. Notably, the firm has adjusted the utilities and power sector models moving into Q1 earnings in a bid to exhibit the macro positioning as well as updated thoughts on the US utilities tariff outlook. Furthermore, the analyst has highlighted the defensive characteristics of the industry. Elsewhere, Morgan Stanley exhibited optimism on The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)’s stock. Some important takeaways from the firm’s annual energy & power conference include robust demand from data centers, renewables defense with safe harboring, equipment onshoring, among others.

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)’s strategic position places it as the frontrunner in the trend of data center development. Furthermore, the elevated demand trends for cloud computing, AI as well as other data-intensive technologies continue to fuel significant investments in data center infrastructure throughout the region. Data center operators tend to make long-term power purchase agreements, which provide The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) with predictable cash flows and justify the robust infrastructure investments. The requirement to support data center operations fuels investments in grid reliability as well as capacity, which could be beneficial for all the customers and potentially result in favorable regulatory outcomes.