Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $72.33 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $45.81 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.98.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.20.

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.