Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target Increased to $84.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its target price upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $84.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SRE. Mizuho cut their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut Sempra from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $82.23.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $0.95 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.18. The company had a trading volume of 3,376,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,978,087. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $78.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.77%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Sempra by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 85.6% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 412 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.