The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Holdings Cut by RWA Wealth Partners LLC

RWA Wealth Partners LLC lessened its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 55.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,834 shares during the period. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Southern by 42.9% during the third quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its position in shares of Southern by 296.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 3,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 2,861 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Southern by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 190,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,336,000 after purchasing an additional 61,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Southern by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 533,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,543,000 after buying an additional 3,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SO. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Southern from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.36.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $74.37 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.50 and its 200-day moving average is $69.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Southern Company has a 52 week low of $61.56 and a 52 week high of $75.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Southern had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 11.40%. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 77.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,508,984.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock worth $739,587 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Southern

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.