Sempra (SRE) Scheduled to Post Earnings on Tuesday

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) is set 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. Persons that wish to listen to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. The business’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 Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $72.92 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.80. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $78.70. The company has a market capitalization of $46.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 51.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.