Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.76

Southern Company (The) (NYSE:SO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 7th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th.

Southern has a dividend 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 Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:SO traded down $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.65. 1,180,709 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,824,059. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.79. Southern has a 12-month low of $81.69 and a 12-month high of $99.58. The firm has a market cap of $104.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $87.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.05.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.12. Southern had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Southern Company Profile

Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is an energy holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Through its subsidiaries, the company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, while also providing natural gas distribution and related energy services.

Southern’s electric utility operations include Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, which serve customers across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. The company’s generation portfolio includes nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources.