Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) to Issue $0.76 Quarterly Dividend

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of 0.76 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th.

Southern has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 25 years. Southern has a payout ratio of 66.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Southern to earn $4.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.8%.

Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SO opened at $94.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $106.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Southern has a 52 week low of $83.80 and a 52 week high of $100.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.49.

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

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.