RWA Wealth Partners LLC Sells 10,834 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

RWA Wealth Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 55.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,834 shares during the quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Southern by 63.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. CNB Bank grew its holdings in Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Southern from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.36.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $74.37 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $61.56 and a 1-year high of $75.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average of $69.50 and a 200 day moving average of $69.31. The company has a market capitalization of $81.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.49.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The business’s revenue was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is 77.14%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In other Southern news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total value of $344,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 126,528 shares in the company, valued at $8,720,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $60,286.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,720,309.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.