Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Research Coverage Started at Bank of America

Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $94.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target 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 issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $85.00.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $82.97 on Thursday. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $84.28. The company has a market capitalization of $52.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.93%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total transaction of $457,927.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 2.8% in the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra by 3.4% during the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 38,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,854,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. 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.