Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target Cut to $75.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price objective reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from $77.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.31.

Sempra Trading Up 0.7 %

Sempra stock opened at $70.21 on Tuesday. Sempra has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $73.11 and its 200 day moving average is $81.71. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $45.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares valued at $4,694,019. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 265.2% in the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.