Options Assignment – Southern Company (SO)

I’m reporting an options assignment with SO.  I originally posted back on May 28th about selling 1 SO Nov 16 ’13 $45 Put @ 2.09.

On 11/01/13 someone exercised their put early and I was assigned 100 shares of SO @ $45/share with a cost basis of $42.91 not counting commissions.  I was able to slightly lower my cost basis on a company I’d like to hold long-term as a core utility position.

The Southern Company has a dividend yield of 4.9% at todays prices.  SO is a Dividend Contender having increased their dividends for the last 12 years.  They have a 5-year CAGR of 4% which is pretty typical for a utility holding.

I’m now slightly overweight SO but that will change over time as my portfolio grows.

From Etrade:

The Southern Company (Southern Company)is a holding company, which owns all of the common stock of the traditional operating companies, including Alabama Power Company (Alabama Power), Georgia Power Company (Georgia Power), Gulf Power Company (Gulf Power), and Mississippi Power Company (Mississippi Power) ,and Southern Power Company (Southern Power), and other direct and indirect subsidiaries (together, the Southern Company system). The primary business of the Southern Company system is electricity sales by the traditional operating companies and Southern Power. The four traditional operating companies are vertically integrated utilities providing electric service in four Southeastern states. Southern Power constructs, acquires, owns, and manages generation assets. In July 2012, the Company and Turner Renewable Energy acquired a 20 megawatts solar photovoltaic power plant in Nevada from SunEdison, a subsidiary of MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.

These 100 shares will increase my yearly dividends by $203/year and bring my forward dividends to $8206.41.

I still have 8 open options positions that can be found on my options page.