Southern Company (The) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.74 (NYSE:SO)

by · The Markets Daily

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.74 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, March 6th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th.

Southern has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 25 years. Southern has a payout ratio of 64.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Southern to earn $4.59 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 64.5%.

Southern Price Performance

NYSE:SO traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $88.72. 1,834,446 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,094,895. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $87.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.67. Southern has a 52-week low of $82.78 and a 52-week high of $100.83. The company has a market cap of $97.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69.

Southern (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.09. Southern had a return on equity of 12.52% and a net margin of 15.42%.The business had revenue of $7.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Southern

(Get Free Report)

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.

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