Sempra (SRE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.62 on July 15th

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 14th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 27th.

Sempra has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Sempra has a dividend payout ratio of 48.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Sempra to earn $5.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 48.4%.

Sempra Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $76.44 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.94. The company has a market capitalization of $48.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Mizuho increased their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their target price on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.10.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.