Sempra (SRE) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 20th

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of 0.645 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62.

Sempra has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.1% per year 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% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 NYSE SRE opened at $72.70 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $83.71 and its 200-day moving average is $84.84. Sempra has a 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho dropped their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value 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. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.