Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV Makes New Investment in The Southern Company (NYSE:SO)

Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV purchased a new position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 1,502.6% during the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 96,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,738,000 after acquiring an additional 90,846 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 119,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,782,000 after acquiring an additional 3,226 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Southern by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 40,423 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,645,000 after acquiring an additional 5,541 shares during the last quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $908,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,370,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Southern news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Sterling A. Jr. Spainhour sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.99, for a total value of $211,796.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,112,375. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,945 shares of company stock valued at $3,488,826 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SO. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Southern from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Southern from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $89.07.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of SO stock opened at $89.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The Southern Company has a twelve month low of $65.80 and a twelve month high of $94.45. The company has a market cap of $97.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.95.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.19. Southern had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 17.67%. The business had revenue of $6.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Southern Company will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Southern’s payout ratio is presently 68.57%.

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.