The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Southern Company, Prologis, Delta Air Lines, Occidental Petroleum and Dollar General

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 18, 2019 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Southern Company SO, Prologis PLD, Delta Air Lines DAL, Occidental Petroleum OXY and Dollar General DG.

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

Top Analyst Reports for Southern Company, Prologis and Delta

The Zacks Research Daily presents the best research output of our analyst team. Today's Research Daily features new research reports on 16 major stocks, including Southern Company, Prologis and Delta Air Lines. These research reports have been hand-picked from the roughly 70 reports published by our analyst team today.

You can see all of today’s research reports here >>>

Outperform-ratedSouthern Company's shares have outperformed the Zacks Electric Power industry year to date, gaining +26.7% vs +14.8%. The Zacks analyst thinks the stock is poised for further capital appreciation, riding on its healthy earnings growth prospects. It is one of the largest and best-managed electric utility holding companies in the United States, dominating the power business across the southeastern region.

With good rate base growth and constructive regulation, it is expected to generate steady earnings and dividend growth in the coming years through long-term power contracts. Additionally, SO's $12 billion AGL buy has significantly increased its customer base and diversified offerings. Investors have also welcomed the U.S. federal government's approval of $3.7 billion in loan guarantees for the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia that will help the utility to reduce its costs.

Shares of Prologis have outperformed the Zacks REIT and Equity Trust industry in the year-to-date period (+38.7% vs. +19.9%). The company has agreed to acquire warehouse owner Industrial Property Trust, in a deal valued at about $3.99 billion, from Black Creek Group.

The Zacks analyst thinks the move will expand the company’s position in key submarkets. Further, backed by high period-end occupancy, Prologis delivered a healthy performance in Q2 and also raised its outlook. In a rising e-commerce market, industrial real estate assets continue to play a pivotal role.

Companies are making immense efforts to improve supply-chain efficiencies, spurring demand for logistics infrastructure and efficient distribution networks. Given Prologis’ balance-sheet strength, it remains well poised to capitalize on this favorable trend. But rising supply and protectionist trade policies are key concerns.

Delta Air Lines’ shares have gained +26.6% year to date, outperforming the Zacks Airline industry's +14.3% increase. Delta delivered an impressive performance in second-quarter 2019, wherein earnings and revenues surpassed expectations. Both the metrics also improved year over year.

Similar to the past few quarters, quarterly results were aided by uptick in passenger revenues on account of strong demand for air travel. Moreover, Delta raised its current-year earnings projection. Also, the company’s board approved a 15% dividend hike. The Zacks analyst thinks initiatives to reduce debt are also impressive.

However, increase in operating expenses mainly due to high non-fuel unit costs remain a concern. Notably, non-fuel unit costs are projected to increase 1-2% in the third quarter. Moreover, technological glitches have been hurting Delta's operations quite regularly.

Other noteworthy reports we are featuring today include Occidental Petroleum and Dollar General.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Southern Company (The) (SO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Dollar General Corporation (DG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Prologis, Inc. (PLD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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