Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01), Briefing.com reports. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 opened at $75.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.56 billion, a PE ratio of 15.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.86. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $78.70.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on SRE. Mizuho dropped their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by 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.