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

Twinbeech Capital LP cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 82.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 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 quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP's holdings in Southern were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 84.9% during the 4th 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 period. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SO shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of Southern in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp lowered Southern from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $78.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $92.21.

Southern Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $88.43. 806,851 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,489,346. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.85 and a 200 day moving average of $87.23. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $76.64 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. 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 $97.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.05, 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The business's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. This is an increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 70.64%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09% 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 insiders.

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.