Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.62 Per Share

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 27th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60.

Sempra has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. Sempra has a payout ratio of 48.1% 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 Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $70.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.63 billion, a PE ratio of 14.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $79.51.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Sempra from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 34,190 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.83, for a total transaction of $2,421,677.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 156,622 shares of company stock valued at $11,089,713. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 842.9% during the 2nd quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Sempra in the second quarter valued at about $71,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $116,000. Pacific Center for Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at about $127,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.83% 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.