Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Given New $86.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its target price lifted by Morgan Stanley from $85.00 to $86.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on SRE. UBS Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 price target (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.58.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $70.10 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $45.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $78.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $618,823.35. The trade was a 8.69 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $70.96 per share, with a total value of $184,496.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,110,453.04. This trade represents a 19.92 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 9.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Sempra by 6.8% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at about $81,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in Sempra by 14.6% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 34,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,881,000 after purchasing an additional 4,401 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra by 1.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,865,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.