Will Oncor Buyout Help Sempra Energy's (SRE) Q1 Earnings?

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) is set to report first-quarter 2018 results on May 7, before the market opens.

In the last reported quarter, the company pulled off a positive earnings surprise of 10%. Moreover, it surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the trailing four quarters, the average beat being 14.23%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.

Factors at Play

Sempra Energy completed the acquisition of Energy Future Holdings Corp., Oncor’s parent company, in March 2018. The takeover is expected to be accretive to the company’s earnings in 2018 by 20 cents. To this end, we may expect Oncor’s accretion to benefit the company’s bottom line, starting from the first quarter, which in turn is likely to be reflected in the upcoming quarterly results.

On the flip side, the impacts of the recent tax reform may hurt the company's first-quarter 2018 results, per management.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $3.42 billion, indicating a rise of 12.9% year over year. The same for earnings is at $1.67, reflecting a year-over-year decline of 4%.

Earnings Whisper

Our proven model does not indicate earnings beat for Sempra Energy in the quarter to be reported. This is because a stock needs to have a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen. However, Sempra Energy lacks the attributes, as you will see below:

Zacks ESP: The company has an Earnings ESP of -2.59%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: Sempra Energy carries a Zacks Rank #3, which increases the chance of earnings beat. However, a negative Earnings ESP makes surprise prediction difficult.

Please note that we caution against stocks with a Zacks Rank #4 or 5 (Sell-rated) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Here are a few utility stocks from the same industry which have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter:

Just Energy Group, Inc. (TO:JE) has an Earnings ESP of +23.08% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is expected to release fourth-quarter fiscal 2018 earnings on May 16.

South Jersey Industries, Inc. (NYSE:SJI) has an Earnings ESP of +3.41% and sports a Zacks Rank of 1. The company is likely to announce first-quarter 2018 earnings on May 8. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Southwest Gas Corporation (NYSE:SWX) has an Earnings ESP of +2.65% and a Zacks Rank #3. The company is expected to release first-quarter 2018 earnings on May 14.

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