Analysts Set Sempra (NYSE:SRE) PT at $89.00

Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $89.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $92.19 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $58.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a one year low of $66.40 and a one year high of $93.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.63%.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 1st quarter worth approximately $815,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at $2,293,000. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in Sempra by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 117,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,418,000 after acquiring an additional 14,100 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 249.9% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 155,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,195,000 after acquiring an additional 111,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its stake in Sempra by 319.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,980,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.