The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) to Issue $0.72 Quarterly Dividend

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of 0.72 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th.

Southern has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 23 consecutive years. Southern has a payout ratio of 62.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Southern to earn $4.32 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.7%.

Southern Stock Down 0.8 %

SO traded down $0.66 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.88. 5,771,792 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,228,738. The stock has a market cap of $90.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.27, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.52. The business's 50 day moving average is $84.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.57. Southern has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 12.78% and a net margin of 17.87%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Southern will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,170 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $100,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 88,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,592,958.70. The trade was a 1.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Southern from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim lowered shares of Southern from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Southern from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Southern from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $90.14.

Southern Company Profile

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.