Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Sempra (NYSE:SRE)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $87.18, but opened at $72.38. Sempra shares last traded at $68.09, with a volume of 3,834,177 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Down 20.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $43.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $84.29 and its 200 day moving average is $84.98.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,369,076,000 after buying an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $584,763,000 after buying an additional 2,758,037 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,069,000 after buying an additional 1,936,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 9.1% during 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 during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.