The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Raises Dividend to $0.72 Per Share

The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.72 per share by the utilities provider on Thursday, June 6th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. This is a positive change from Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70.

Southern has raised its dividend payment by an average of 3.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 23 years. Southern has a payout ratio of 64.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Southern to earn $4.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.1%.

Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SO traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $72.46. 1,430,195 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,618,991. The firm has a market cap of $79.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.49. Southern has a twelve month low of $61.56 and a twelve month high of $75.80. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Southern (NYSE:SO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The utilities provider reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.90 billion. Southern had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 15.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Southern will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Southern

In related news, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total transaction of $334,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,672,210.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Christopher Cummiskey sold 899 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total transaction of $60,286.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,508,984.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Stephen E. Kuczynski sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.94, for a total value of $334,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,552 shares in the company, valued at $8,672,210.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,899 shares of company stock valued at $739,587 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SO. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Southern in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 target price (up previously from $72.00) on shares of Southern in a research note on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group cut Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Southern from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Southern from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Southern has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.07.

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.