Sempra (SRE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.65 on April 15th

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of 0.645 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a 4.0% increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62.

Sempra has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 22 years. Sempra has a payout ratio of 51.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sempra to earn $5.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.58 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 50.2%.

Sempra Stock Up 1.2 %

SRE opened at $71.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.92. The company has a market cap of $46.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.50.

About Sempra

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.