Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $91.60.

Several brokerages have commented on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction 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 approximately $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Sempra by 0.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,324,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,870,591,000 after purchasing an additional 128,847 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,774,974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,978,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,587,181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582,653 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6.9% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,452,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,023,228,000 after buying an additional 874,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sempra by 1.2% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,761,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,063,007,000 after buying an additional 145,873 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Price Performance

SRE opened at $87.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.26. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

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.