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

Shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $82.14.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays increased their target price on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $72.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.75. Sempra has a 12 month low of $63.75 and a 12 month high of $79.30.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The utilities provider reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.02. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 51.77%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,105.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PrairieView Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 119.9% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.