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Why Sempra (SRE) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio
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Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.
Sempra in Focus
Sempra (SRE - Free Report) is headquartered in San Diego, and is in the Utilities sector. The stock has seen a price change of -22.61% since the start of the year. The natural gas and electricity provider is paying out a dividend of $1.04 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.57% compared to the Utility - Gas Distribution industry's yield of 3.61% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.93%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $4.18 is up 8% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Sempra has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 8.56%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Sempra's current payout ratio is 58%. This means it paid out 58% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for SRE for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $7.34 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 8.26%.
Bottom Line
From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that SRE is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
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Why Sempra (SRE) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio
Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.
Sempra in Focus
Sempra (SRE - Free Report) is headquartered in San Diego, and is in the Utilities sector. The stock has seen a price change of -22.61% since the start of the year. The natural gas and electricity provider is paying out a dividend of $1.04 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 3.57% compared to the Utility - Gas Distribution industry's yield of 3.61% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.93%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $4.18 is up 8% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Sempra has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 8.56%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Sempra's current payout ratio is 58%. This means it paid out 58% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for SRE for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2020 is $7.34 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 8.26%.
Bottom Line
From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.
High-growth firms or tech start-ups, for example, rarely provide their shareholders a dividend, while larger, more established companies that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options. Income investors have to be mindful of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that SRE is not only an attractive dividend play, but is also a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).