Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives $82.14 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $82.14.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

Sempra Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $71.32 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $70.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.70. The company has a market cap of $45.08 billion, a PE ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $79.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total value of $360,586.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 101.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after purchasing an additional 31,334,782 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Sempra by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917,668 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 104.0% during the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after acquiring an additional 7,348,746 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 147.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,546,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at $958,253,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.