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

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 21st, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of 0.74 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, June 6th. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. This is a 2.8% increase from Southern's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72.

Southern has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 24 years. Southern has a dividend payout ratio of 64.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of SO stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $90.44. 3,442,759 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,479,347. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $99.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.55, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $89.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.34. Southern has a 12-month low of $73.20 and a 12-month high of $94.45.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.01). Southern had a return on equity of 12.23% and a net margin of 16.47%. The company had revenue of $6.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.90 billion. On average, analysts expect that Southern will post 4.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Southern news, CEO Kimberly S. Greene sold 32,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.12, for a total transaction of $2,997,532.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 106,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,946,985.28. This trade represents a 23.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Martin Bernard Davis sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.61, for a total transaction of $100,811.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 102,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,148,284.90. This trade represents a 1.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,855 shares of company stock worth $4,348,784. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Southern from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Southern from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $94.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Southern from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Southern from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.54.

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.