Brokerages Set Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target at $82.14

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.14.

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.50 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th.

Sempra Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of SRE stock opened at $71.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $45.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.71. Sempra has a 1 year low of $63.75 and a 1 year high of $79.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.66.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Sempra’s payout ratio is 51.77%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $360,586.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,888.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 119.9% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monetary Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is 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.