Southern Company (Symbol: SO) has been named a Top Socially Responsible Dividend Stock by Dividend Channel, signifying a stock with above-average ''DividendRank'' statistics including a strong 4.2% yield, as well as being recognized by prominent asset managers as being a socially responsible investment, through analysis of social and environmental criteria. Environmental criteria include considerations like the environmental impact of the company's products and services, as well as the company's efficiency in terms of its use of energy and resources. Social criteria include elements such as human rights, child labor, corporate diversity, and the company's impact on society — for instance, taken into consideration would be business activities tied to weapons, gambling, tobacco, and alcohol.
According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, Southern Company is a member of the iShares MSCI USA ESG Select ETF (SUSA), making up 0.11% of the underlying holdings of the fund, which owns $2,300,370 worth of SO shares.
The annualized dividend paid by Southern Company is $2.56/share, currently paid in quarterly installments, and its most recent dividend ex-date was on 11/13/2020. Below is a long-term dividend history chart for SO, which the DividendRank report stressed as being of key importance. Indeed, studying a company's past dividend history can be of good help in judging whether the most recent dividend is likely to continue.
SO operates in the Electric Utilities sector, among companies like NextEra Energy Inc (NEE), and Companhia Paranaense De Energia - COPEL (ELP).
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