Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Hits New 12-Month High at $79.46

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $79.46 and last traded at $79.07, with a volume of 734408 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $77.72.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.10.

Sempra Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.20. The company has a market cap of $48.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.95% and a net margin of 20.99%. The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sempra by 195.1% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.