CWA Asset Management Group LLC Buys 6,191 Shares of Southern Company (The) $SO

CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 208,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,191 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $18,155,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Southern in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern in the third quarter worth $29,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 120.1% in the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE SO opened at $93.49 on Friday. Southern Company has a 12-month low of $83.09 and a 12-month high of $100.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 6,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.55, for a total transaction of $643,891.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,973,740. The trade was a 17.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SO has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays cut their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. KeyCorp raised shares of Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Southern from $101.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.08.

About Southern

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.