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

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC purchased a new position in Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SO shares. Mizuho set a $105.00 target price on Southern in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $104.00 price target on shares of Southern in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore raised shares of Southern from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Southern from $103.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.26.

Southern Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Southern stock opened at $95.71 on Wednesday. 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 Company has a 1-year low of $83.80 and a 1-year high of $100.83. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.54. The company has a market capitalization of $107.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.34.

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

Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Southern’s payout ratio is currently 77.35%.

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.