Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.60.

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, 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 Investors Weigh In On Sempra

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in Sempra by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,518 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,890,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 4,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of SRE opened at $87.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $89.10 and its 200 day moving average is $83.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $66.40 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.