Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.27.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SRE. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their price objective on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $958,253,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Sempra by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,969,000 after buying an additional 2,917,668 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Sempra by 5,279.4% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,583,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $113,591,000 after acquiring an additional 1,554,374 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the first quarter worth approximately $64,994,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 96.9% in the 1st quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 1,636,202 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $117,528,000 after acquiring an additional 805,084 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $77.26 on Thursday. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $83.68. The company has a market cap of $48.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $76.76 and a 200-day moving average of $73.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.99%.

Sempra Company Profile

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.