Twinbeech Capital LP Trims Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Twinbeech Capital LP lessened its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 82.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,171 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,783 shares during the period. Twinbeech Capital LP's holdings in Southern were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Southern Price Performance

SO traded up $0.27 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $89.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,316,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,494,572. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $98.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $89.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.20. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $76.64 and a twelve month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.74 dividend. This is a positive change from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SO. Morgan Stanley reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.21.

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.