Sempra (SRE) to Release Earnings on Tuesday

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) will post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Tuesday, May 7th. Analysts expect Sempra to post earnings of $1.50 per share for the quarter. Parties interested in participating in 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Sempra to post $5 EPS for the current fiscal year and $5 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Sempra Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:SRE traded down $0.57 on Tuesday, hitting $71.71. The stock had a trading volume of 84,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,918,834. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.75. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $79.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $45.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $82.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.