Sempra (NYSE:SRE) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.65 Per Share

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 dividend yield of 2.96%. This is a positive change 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 every year for the last 21 years. Sempra has a dividend 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 Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $87.20 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $55.23 billion, a PE ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SRE. Barclays decreased their target price on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.20.

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.