Pinion Investment Advisors LLC Has $707,000 Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Pinion Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 17.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,126 shares during the period. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $707,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Southern by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 80,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,232,000 after acquiring an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Southern by 25.6% during the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,560,000 after acquiring an additional 3,461 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $8,281,000. Dover Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $290,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Southern during the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:SO opened at $90.22 on Friday. The Southern Company has a 12-month low of $76.96 and a 12-month high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.31.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.17 billion. Southern had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SO. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $94.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Southern from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $93.00.

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.