Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.20.

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $82.16 on Thursday. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.22.

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

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This trade represents a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in Sempra by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after buying an additional 1,582,653 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,023,228,000 after purchasing an additional 874,133 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 201.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 620,394 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,882,000 after purchasing an additional 414,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,023,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.