Why Southern Co Is a Top 10 Utility Dividend Stock (SO)

Southern Co (NYSE:SO) has been named as a Top 10 dividend-paying utility stock, according to Dividend Channel, which published its weekly "DividendRank” report. The report noted that among utilities, SO shares displayed both attractive valuation metrics and strong profitability metrics. For example, the recent SO share price of $44.76 represents a price-to-book ratio of 2 and an annual dividend yield of 4.85% — by comparison, the average utility stock in Dividend Channel’s coverage universe yields 4% and trades at a price-to-book ratio of 2.1.

The report also cited the strong quarterly dividend history at Southern Company, and favorable long-term multi-year growth rates in key fundamental data points. The annualized dividend paid by Southern is $2.17 per share, currently paid in quarterly installments, and its most recent dividend ex-date was May 14. Below is a long-term dividend history chart for SO, which Dividend Channel stressed as being of key importance.

Source: InvestorPlace

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