HUB Investment Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

HUB Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 61.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,192 shares during the quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Southern by 84.9% in the 4th quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Southern by 244.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE SO opened at $90.01 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $98.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. The Southern Company has a one year low of $67.53 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $86.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.24.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly 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). The company 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on SO shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Jeffrey Peoples sold 14,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total transaction of $1,250,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,138,296. This trade represents a 52.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784 over the last three months. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.