Huber Capital Management LLC Sells 7,697 Shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Huber Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 32.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 7,697 shares during the quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC's holdings in Southern were worth $1,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Enhancement Group LLC bought a new stake in Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $326,000. Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 201,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,626,000 after purchasing an additional 5,434 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 94.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 288,679 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,033,000 after acquiring an additional 140,151 shares during the period. Farmers Trust Co. lifted its position in Southern by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 48,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,983,000 after purchasing an additional 11,605 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 237,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $19,556,000 after buying an additional 14,824 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Southern currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.00.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO traded up $0.97 on Tuesday, hitting $88.19. 1,864,466 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,163,749. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. 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 company's 50 day moving average price is $88.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.30.

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

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.82%.

Insider Transactions at Southern

In related news, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $1,250,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 13,236 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.