Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives $81.50 Average PT from Brokerages

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $81.50.

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $70.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $84.00. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 6,719 shares of company stock worth $467,180. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 14,456 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,268,000 after acquiring an additional 4,936 shares during the period. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its position in Sempra by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 8,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $761,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $30,462,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.