The Southern Company (NYSE:SO – Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 15th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.72 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th.
Southern has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 24 years. Southern has a payout ratio of 66.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Southern to earn $4.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.0%.
Southern Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE SO opened at $92.27 on Thursday. Southern has a 52-week low of $64.53 and a 52-week high of $92.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.41.
Insider Buying and Selling at Southern
In other news, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares in the company, valued at $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total transaction of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,005,688.32. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,945 shares of company stock worth $3,488,826 over the last ninety days. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Southern from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Southern in a report on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research downgraded Southern from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Southern from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.07.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Southern
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.
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