Brokerages Set Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target at $91.60

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Buy" by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $91.60.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SRE. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note 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 shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $98.00 price target for the company.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $87.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,791,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,952,203. 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 firm has a market cap of $55.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $88.87 and a 200-day moving average of $83.04. Sempra has a 52 week low of $66.40 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.63%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other Sempra news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total value of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Sempra by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 40,810 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,104,000 after purchasing an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Sempra by 80.3% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 127,293 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,682,000 after acquiring an additional 56,707 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 6.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,723 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 59.1% in the second quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,112 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $845,000 after acquiring an additional 4,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors 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.