Did Sempra’s Dividends Make Up For Its Lag Behind The Market?
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Regulated utilities generate most of the sales at Sempra (SRE), which pays shareholders a quarterly dividend. Over the past year alone, dividends added 2.8 percentage points to the stock’s return. Yet the share price has lagged well behind the S&P 500. Once every dividend is counted, what do you think a Sempra holder made over five years, next to the market?
How Far Has Sempra Stock Trailed The Market?
On price alone, Sempra stock rose 32.2% over the five years to October 26, 2026, trailing the 71.2% gain for the S&P 500. That leaves Sempra 38.9 percentage points behind the market. An investor tracking only the share price saw a stock that advanced, but by less than half as much as the market.
How Much Did Sempra’s Dividends Add?
Reinvesting dividends lifted Sempra’s return to 54.6% over the same five years. These payouts added 22.4 percentage points to the share price gain. While the stock’s appreciation still drove most of a holder’s result, dividends supplied about two-fifths of it.
Did The Dividends Close The Gap For Sempra Holders?
The S&P 500 paid dividends too, meaning Sempra with dividends belongs beside the market with dividends.
| Return from Oct 18, 2021 to Oct 26, 2026 | On price alone | With dividends reinvested |
|---|---|---|
| The stock | +32.2% | +54.6% |
| S&P 500 | +71.2% | +82.5% |
Before taxes and costs. The S&P 500 is measured through the SPDR S&P 500 ETF.
The S&P 500 returned 82.5% over the five years with dividends included, leaving Sempra 27.9 percentage points behind. The market’s own dividends added 11.4 points, about half as much as Sempra’s. Although Sempra’s payouts closed part of the gap with the market, most of that gap remains.
What This Means If You Own Sempra For Income
Owning Sempra for income over the past five years meant collecting dividends that contributed more to the return than the market’s did, even as the return still trailed the market’s by a wide margin. The past year shows the same trade. The S&P 500’s dividends added 0.9 percentage points to its return, about a third of what Sempra’s added. Yet with dividends counted, Sempra lost 5.5% while the S&P 500 gained 14.9%.
Utilities made up 86.8% of Sempra’s revenue in 2025. Over the twelve months to June 2026, cash from operations exceeded the amount Sempra paid in dividends. However, business spending outpaced that operating cash, so free cash flow was negative and did not cover the dividend.
For anyone holding Sempra for income, the number to watch is the gap between its return with dividends and the S&P 500’s return with dividends.
Is Too Much Of Your Wealth Riding On One Stock?
For Sempra holders, the dividend checks tell a different story from the price chart. When one position grows into a large part of your wealth, a sharp fall can hurt your whole plan, and selling to spread the money out can bring a large tax bill. Our partner advisory firm offers a free strategy review of ways to protect a concentrated position and unwind it with less tax.
Request A Free Strategy Review
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