Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Invests $594,000 in Southern Company (The) $SO

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new stake in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Ankerstar Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 64.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $89.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp upgraded Southern from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $95.71 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $93.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.54. The firm has a market cap of $107.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.34. Southern Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.11. Southern had a net margin of 14.46% and a return on equity of 12.64%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Southern Company will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This is an increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

Southern Company 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.