Lee Jackson
8 min read
Quick Read
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Southern Company has raised its dividend 25 straight years, and its payout uses about 65% of raised 2026 earnings guidance.
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Dominion Energy offers the group’s top electric yield near 4%, but its frozen payout and proposed NextEra merger add uncertainty.
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Data center demand is feeding new load at all four regulated utilities, supporting future dividend growth.
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Regulated utilities pay retirees out of monopoly service territories where state commissions set the rates. That structure is why their dividends usually keep coming when the economy slows and paychecks elsewhere get cut. This week’s list adds a timing hook and a growth story. The quarterly dividend calendar for these four names gets busy starting with the ex-dividend date for Southern Company (NYSE:SO) on November 16, and all four are adding new electricity load from data centers and other large customers.
Southern Company: 25 Straight Years of Raises and Rising Guidance
Southern Company pays $0.76 per share each quarter. At a recent price of $93.60 and an annualized payout of $3.04, the forward yield works out to about 3.25%. Shares go ex-dividend Monday, so anyone buying next week will start collecting with the payment after the December 7 check.
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Dividend safety: On the Q3 call, management said it expects full-year adjusted EPS of $4.70, which is $0.10 higher than the top of our original 2026 adjusted earnings guidance range. The annualized dividend comes to roughly 65% of that figure. Southern is aiming for 17% FFO to debt by 2029, has completed all $5.3 billion of its forward-priced equity, and sees only about $2 billion of remaining equity need through 2030. The payout record is about as strong as utilities get. The chief executive pointed to “25 consecutive years of dividend increases, more than three-quarters of a century having never reduced our dividend”, and the dividend history shows the quarterly rate rising from $0.64 in February 2021 to the current $0.76.
