Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives $91.60 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.20.

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $82.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $51.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $87.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.28. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Sempra by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its position in Sempra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 6,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 0.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Sempra by 5.5% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton grew its position in Sempra by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. 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.