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

Huber Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 3.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 894 shares during the quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $1,924,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SO. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Southern in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Southern by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 3,628.6% in the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Southern

In other news, CEO Anthony L. Wilson sold 6,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total value of $535,509.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,620,831.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total value of $587,830.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. The sale 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 shares were sold at an average price of $77.61, for a total transaction of $535,509.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Southern from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Southern from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Southern Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $89.70 on Friday. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $61.56 and a fifty-two week high of $90.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market cap of $98.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $86.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.80.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

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