Western Wealth Management LLC Sells 13,544 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Western Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 63.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,647 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,544 shares during the quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 5,108 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,968 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,839,000 after purchasing an additional 10,139 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 381,347 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,393,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 32,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,750,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Southern by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total value of $100,811.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Southern Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Southern stock traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $89.91. The stock had a trading volume of 4,316,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,494,572. 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 one year low of $76.64 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $98.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $89.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.20.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on SO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have given 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 $92.21.

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.