Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Cut to “Hold” at Argus

Argus cut shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.58.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $70.10 on Tuesday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $78.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.66. The company has a market capitalization of $45.67 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. Sempra’s payout ratio is 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction 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 represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael N. Mears purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $67.70 per share, with a total value of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,500. This trade represents a 25.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.