Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Increases Dividend to $0.65 Per Share

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 dividend 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 by an average of 4.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. Sempra has a payout ratio of 51.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 stock opened at $71.03 on Tuesday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. 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. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Company Profile

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.