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

Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $89.91.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America assumed coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd.

Sempra Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of SRE opened at $89.60 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.74, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.77. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $87.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.66. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced 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 firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.9% in 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 in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 201.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,023,000. 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.