Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC Trims Stake in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 301 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Southern were worth $2,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SO. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Southern by 63.9% during the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 526 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. CNB Bank lifted its stake in shares of Southern by 1,021.4% during the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 628 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new stake in Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Atticus Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Southern by 30.4% during the third quarter. Atticus Wealth Management LLC now owns 652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.92, for a total transaction of $344,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 126,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,720,309.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 9,126 shares of Southern stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $684,815.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,117,660.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,126 shares of company stock worth $1,364,115 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE SO traded up $0.19 on Thursday, hitting $77.82. 2,666,043 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,820,170. The Southern Company has a 52-week low of $61.56 and a 52-week high of $77.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.75 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.82.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Southern had a net margin of 16.74% and a return on equity of 12.07%. The company had revenue of $6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. This is a boost from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 74.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Southern from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group cut shares of Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Southern from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.71.

Southern Company 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.