Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives $86.20 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.20.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Barclays increased their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SRE. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Sempra during the first quarter worth about $815,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,293,000. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Sempra by 13.7% in the first quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 117,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,418,000 after buying an additional 14,100 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in Sempra by 4.8% during the first quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,891,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $207,662,000 after buying an additional 133,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 249.9% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 155,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,195,000 after buying an additional 111,314 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $85.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.30 and a 200-day moving average of $77.66. The company has a market cap of $54.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $86.13.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.99%.

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.