Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations 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 firm had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s 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 Trading Up 1.3 %

SRE stock traded up $0.98 on Wednesday, hitting $74.97. 1,283,172 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,941,558. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $78.70. 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 fifty day moving average is $70.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction 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 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. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.