The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Sold by Huber Capital Management LLC

Huber Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 894 shares during the period. Huber Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in Southern by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Southern by 1.4% in the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Southern by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Elwood & Goetz Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,352 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 6,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In related news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total transaction of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares in the company, valued at $6,620,831.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,845 shares of company stock worth $2,266,455 in the last 90 days. 0.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Southern in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $61.56 and a 12-month high of $90.34. The firm has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $6.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.10 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.67% and a return on equity of 12.88%. Southern’s revenue was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Southern Company will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 19th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 19th. Southern’s payout ratio is 74.42%.

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.