Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,111 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,159 shares during the period. Southern makes up about 0.8% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $17,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Southern by 325.7% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $355,864,000 after purchasing an additional 3,307,527 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 11,230.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,954,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $179,690,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Southern by 562.9% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,368,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $112,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162,288 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $93.00 price target on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.93.

Southern Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.00 on Wednesday, reaching $88.42. 5,189,660 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,573,226. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.18 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.38. Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.96 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.76 and a 200 day moving average of $87.30.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.54% and a return on equity of 12.70%. Southern's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

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.