Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives $89.91 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $89.91.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America initiated coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $88.55 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $56.09 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SRE. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,587,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,023,228,000 after acquiring an additional 874,133 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Sempra by 201.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,882,000 after acquiring an additional 414,406 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth $33,023,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% 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.