Everence Capital Management Inc. Has $2.87 Million Stock Holdings in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 16.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,801 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 6,890 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Southern were worth $2,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Southern by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its position in Southern by 3.8% during the third quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 3,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC grew its stake in Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 6,830 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $616,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Southern by 5.8% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Southern by 4.5% during the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,836 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $90.14.

Southern Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of SO stock traded up $0.25 on Friday, reaching $82.32. 4,647,948 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,650,974. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a one year low of $65.80 and a one year high of $94.45. The stock has a market cap of $90.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $86.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $85.90.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 66.98%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,592,958.70. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.