Sempra (SRE) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Tuesday

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

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The company’s revenue 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 Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $72.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $78.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $70.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.78.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 in the last 90 days. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.