Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target Raised to $81.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price objective increased by BMO Capital Markets from $78.00 to $81.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on SRE. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sempra and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.77.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE opened at $75.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.41. Sempra has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $49.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, Director Pablo Ferrero bought 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,823.35. This trade represents a 8.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 265.2% during the fourth quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 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.