The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Stock Position Lowered by Twinbeech Capital LP

Twinbeech Capital LP lessened its position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 82.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AM Investment Strategies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 89,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,363,000 after acquiring an additional 8,261 shares during the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $384,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 56,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,115,000 after acquiring an additional 5,904 shares during the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Southern by 331.0% in the 4th quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 10,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Southern in the 4th quarter worth $364,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $89.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.20. The company has a market cap of $98.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.64 and a 52-week high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last released 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 business had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.17 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s payout ratio is 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total value of $2,997,532.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.