Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03), Briefing.com reports. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Sempra Trading Up 0.3 %

SRE traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.26. 4,243,550 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,001,600. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $83.68.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH cut their price objective on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.27.

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.