Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Southern Company (The) $SO

Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 129,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,269,000. Southern accounts for approximately 2.8% of Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SO. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 120.1% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on SO shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Southern from $91.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on Southern and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Southern from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.08.

Southern Trading Up 0.2%

SO opened at $98.06 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $91.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.57. The firm has a market cap of $107.97 billion, a PE ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.44. Southern Company has a twelve month low of $83.09 and a twelve month high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.65.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a net margin of 14.69% and a return on equity of 12.52%. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 75.32%.

Southern Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an Atlanta-based energy holding company that provides electric and gas utility services and owns power generation assets across the United States. Founded in 1945, the company operates a portfolio of regulated electric utilities and affiliated businesses that generate, transmit and distribute electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Southern’s principal regulated electric subsidiaries include Georgia Power, Alabama Power and Mississippi Power, which serve large portions of the southeastern United States.