Sempra’s (SRE) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group restated their hold rating on shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $77.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior target price of $96.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on SRE. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays downgraded Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.54.

Sempra Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of SRE opened at $72.01 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $82.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 58.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.