Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.17), Briefing.com reports. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE traded up $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $90.62. The stock had a trading volume of 598,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,881,179. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.00. The company has a market cap of $57.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $91.11.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

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.