How’s Southern Company Stock Placed for 2019?

Regulated utility giant Southern Company (SO) stock has underperformed its peers in 2018. The company’s power plant issues continued to dent its stock in 2018. Southern Company stock has fallen 9% in 2018. On average, Southern Company’s peer utilities (XLU) have risen marginally. Southern Company stock is trading at $43.9, which is almost 4% and 3% below its 50-day and 200-day moving average levels, respectively. The fair discount to both of these levels underlines weakness in the stock. The moving average levels around $45.4 and $46.0 could act as a resistance for the stock in the short term.

Southern Company stock is trading at an RSI (relative strength index) of 32. The company’s RSI fell to 15, which indicates oversold levels, on December 24 amid utilities’ weakness.

The short interest in Southern Company stock decreased 11% as of December 14. The total shorted shares in Southern Company were 21.6 million on November 30, while the total shorted shares decreased to 19.2 million as of December 14.

A decrease in the short interest could suggest that fewer investors expect Southern Company to fall from the current price levels. The short interest is the number of shares that are sold short and not squared off. The short interest measures investors’ anxiety.

Southern Company stock is trading 4% above its 52-week low of $42.4 in February. The stock has fallen more than 11% compared to its 52-week high of $49.4 in August.