Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company’s revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Sempra updated its FY24 guidance to $4.60-4.90 EPS and its FY25 guidance to $4.90-5.25 EPS.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,283,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,941,558. The company has a market capitalization of $47.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a 12-month low of $63.75 and a 12-month high of $78.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.86.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.23.

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.