Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Cuts Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,118 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,675 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $3,796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Southern by 84.9% in the fourth quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Southern during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. The trade was a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock valued at $4,348,784. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Southern Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $1.22 on Friday, reaching $91.69. 3,461,959 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,528,453. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $89.31 and a 200-day moving average of $87.33. The company has a market cap of $100.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The Southern Company has a one year low of $70.70 and a one year high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. Analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Southern's payout ratio is 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim cut Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.00.

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.