Everstar Asset Management LLC Makes New $871,000 Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Everstar Asset Management LLC bought a new position in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 10,584 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $871,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SO. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 190,609 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $15,691,000 after acquiring an additional 21,028 shares during the period. United Bank raised its stake in Southern by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. United Bank now owns 55,656 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,582,000 after purchasing an additional 4,032 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Southern by 89.4% in the 4th quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 607,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $50,043,000 after purchasing an additional 286,996 shares in the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Southern by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 44,155 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,635,000 after purchasing an additional 18,160 shares during the period. Finally, BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Southern by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,654 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 1,767 shares in the last quarter. 64.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Southern Price Performance

NYSE SO traded down $3.49 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $89.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,268,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,529,120. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The Southern Company has a 1-year low of $67.53 and a 1-year high of $94.45. The company's 50-day moving average is $88.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 71.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim downgraded Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This represents a 1.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 106,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. Insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

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.