Sempra (NYSE:SRE) to Issue $0.60 Quarterly Dividend

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 6th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 27th will be given a dividend of 0.595 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, October 15th. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%.

Sempra has raised its dividend by an average of 5.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 19 consecutive years. Sempra has a payout ratio of 49.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Sempra to earn $4.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.38 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.5%.

Sempra Stock Up 0.6 %

SRE stock opened at $69.63 on Thursday. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $68.27 and a fifty-two week high of $88.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $72.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $43.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 10.04% and a net margin of 14.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $91.00 to $82.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $80.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $89.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 842.9% during the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Sempra during the second quarter worth approximately $71,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $116,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra by 29.7% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 848 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the first quarter worth $127,000. 84.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sempra

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: San Diego Gas & Electric Company, Southern California Gas Company, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The San Diego Gas & Electric Company segment provides to San Diego and southern Orange counties; and natural gas service to San Diego County.