Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.76
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemSouthern Company (The) (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.76 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, June 8th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This is a 2.7% increase from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74.
Southern has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 25 consecutive years. Southern has a payout ratio of 64.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Southern to earn $4.93 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.0%.
Southern Stock Performance
SO traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $92.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 236,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,725,831. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.41. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $83.09 and a fifty-two week high of $100.83.
Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 14.69%.The business had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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.