Southern Company (The) (SO) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.76 on December 7th

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th.

Southern has a payout ratio of 66.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 0.3%

NYSE SO opened at $90.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. Southern has a twelve month low of $81.69 and a twelve month high of $99.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $104.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $87.61 and its 200 day moving average is $92.00.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.23 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 15.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast 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.