Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Sets New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Sempra (NYSE:SRE)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $87.00 to $89.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Sempra traded as high as $84.45 and last traded at $84.45, with a volume of 366332 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.63.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped 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, September 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 249,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,636,000 after buying an additional 10,874 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,025,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,655,000 after acquiring an additional 15,138 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 111.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 318,893 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,831,000 after purchasing an additional 168,325 shares during the last quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC raised its position in Sempra by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC now owns 8,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 8,931 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $52.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is 54.99%.

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.