CWA Asset Management Group LLC Reduces Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC reduced its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 208,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,129 shares during the period. Southern accounts for approximately 0.9% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $17,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Southern during the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter valued at $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SO. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of SO stock traded down $1.55 on Monday, hitting $80.77. 1,736,681 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,953,827. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.02.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Southern Profile

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.