Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $80.46.

Several brokerages have issued reports on SRE. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Argus lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $70.65 per share, for a total transaction of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,527,944,000 after acquiring an additional 490,269 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Sempra by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,143,248,000 after buying an additional 311,094 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of SRE opened at $69.70 on Tuesday. Sempra has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $45.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.79.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

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.