MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Has $7.35 Million Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB reduced its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,105 shares during the quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Southern were worth $7,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,790,453 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,461,710,000 after purchasing an additional 698,422 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Southern by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,050,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,056,441,000 after purchasing an additional 528,870 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Southern by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,805,269 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $889,490,000 after buying an additional 460,594 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $848,019,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,599,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,288,000 after buying an additional 194,114 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Southern Stock Down 1.9%

Southern stock opened at $88.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $89.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.23. 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 Southern Company has a 52-week low of $76.64 and a 52-week high of $94.45. The firm has a market cap of $96.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.40.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.78 billion for 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%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Southern from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.21.

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.