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

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 25th, RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 3.53%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62.

Sempra has raised its dividend 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

NYSE:SRE traded up $2.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.13. 3,487,755 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,881,056. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $83.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $46.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a one year low of $64.89 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

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