Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.03 EPS

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03, Briefing.com reports. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Sempra Stock Down 18.9 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $70.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $83.96 and a 200 day moving average of $84.93. The firm has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.83.

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.