Sempra (SRE) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Tuesday

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, May 7th. Analysts expect Sempra to post earnings of $1.50 per share for the quarter. Persons that wish to register for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect Sempra to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Sempra Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE SRE traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.71. The stock had a trading volume of 84,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,918,834. The stock has a market cap of $45.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $79.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.75.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

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.