Cwm LLC Has $8.57 Million Position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO)

CWM LLC decreased its stake in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 49.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 93,165 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 92,555 shares during the period. CWM LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $8,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investors Research Corp lifted its position in shares of Southern by 400.0% in the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Elequin Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Southern by 60.6% in the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of SO traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $94.08. The stock had a trading volume of 971,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,720,245. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.43. Southern Company has a one year low of $80.46 and a one year high of $94.62. The firm has a market cap of $103.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.54%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.74 dividend. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SO shares. Barclays raised their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $93.20.

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.