The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lowered its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 4,105 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB's holdings in Southern were worth $7,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $848,019,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $315,290,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Southern by 325.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,322,931 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $355,864,000 after acquiring an additional 3,307,527 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,162,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Southern by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,208,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $428,794,000 after acquiring an additional 979,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SO. UBS Group lifted 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Southern Trading Up 1.3%

SO traded up $1.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $89.94. 10,681,858 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,515,872. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The Southern Company has a 1 year low of $76.96 and a 1 year high of $94.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.24. The firm has a market cap of $98.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Southern's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 owned by insiders.

About Southern

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.