Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Announces $0.62 Quarterly Dividend

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of 0.62 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%.

Sempra has increased its dividend by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. Sempra has a payout ratio of 48.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sempra to earn $5.13 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 48.3%.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $89.76. The stock had a trading volume of 5,083,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,891,746. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $90.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market cap of $56.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of $83.26 and a 200 day moving average of $79.00.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

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.