CWA Asset Management Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,270 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,129 shares during the quarter. Southern accounts for about 0.9% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $17,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Southern by 17,272.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 14,647,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,320,866,000 after buying an additional 14,562,689 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 8,741.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,502,813 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $135,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485,816 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Southern by 72.4% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,077,959 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $277,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,072 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,521,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,203,386,000 after buying an additional 1,075,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Southern by 2,719.7% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 872,373 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,670,000 after buying an additional 841,435 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was 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 $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.
Southern Trading Down 1.9 %
NYSE:SO traded down $1.55 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $80.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,375,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,225,995. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.02. 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 1 year low of $65.80 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.52.
Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. Southern's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Southern Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.98%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms have recently commented on SO. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho cut shares of Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $90.14.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Southern
About Southern
(
Free Report)
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.
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