Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.10.

SRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price target on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Sempra Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of Sempra stock opened at $78.70 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.43. Sempra has a 52-week low of $63.75 and a 52-week high of $83.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $49.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,026,969,000 after acquiring an additional 2,917,668 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at $958,253,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 12,578,779 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $903,534,000 after acquiring an additional 233,819 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,077,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $528,912,000 after buying an additional 507,622 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 4,338,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $324,221,000 after buying an additional 54,592 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.