The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by RWA Wealth Partners LLC

RWA Wealth Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 37.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,084 shares during the quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $709,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.6% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 170,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,303,000 after purchasing an additional 988 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 2,078.6% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 152,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,769,000 after buying an additional 145,667 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Southern by 6.5% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth about $232,000. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 4.9% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 20,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SO shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.46.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This represents a 52.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SO opened at $91.99 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.51 and its 200-day moving average is $87.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 12 month low of $67.53 and a 12 month high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $100.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The business had revenue of $6.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.82%.

Southern Company 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.