Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,433 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $8,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Investors Research Corp increased its stake in Southern by 400.0% during the 1st quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Elequin Capital LP increased its stake in Southern by 60.6% during the 4th quarter. Elequin Capital LP now owns 498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE SO opened at $90.73 on Tuesday. Southern Company has a one year low of $76.96 and a one year high of $94.45. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.38.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.93.

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.