Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $87.18, but opened at $72.38. Sempra shares last traded at $68.09, with a volume of 3,834,177 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays dropped their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $91.20.

Sempra Stock Down 20.5 %

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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.98. The firm has a market cap of $43.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

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

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC increased its stake 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.