Sempra (NYSE:SRE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.65

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.645 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is an 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 increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Sempra has a payout ratio of 44.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Sempra to earn $5.14 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 48.2%.

Sempra Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $72.70 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $83.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $46.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of 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 research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.31.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.