Sempra (SRE) To Go Ex-Dividend on September 26th

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 4th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th.

Sempra has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Sempra has a payout ratio of 48.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Sempra to earn $5.13 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 48.3%.

Sempra Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $84.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.56 and a 200-day moving average of $76.05. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $84.29.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.00.

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.