Analysts Set Sempra (NYSE:SRE) PT at $91.60

Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.20.

A number of brokerages have commented on SRE. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of 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 lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter worth about $4,477,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 11,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $997,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Vision Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 65,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,702,000 after acquiring an additional 13,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 13,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $82.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 1 year low of $66.40 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.22.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. 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%.

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.