Evercore ISI Raises Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target to $84.00

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price target increased by Evercore ISI from $83.00 to $84.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Mizuho raised their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH reduced their target price on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $82.27.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $78.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,514,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,906,281. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $63.75 and a fifty-two week high of $83.68. The company has a market capitalization of $49.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.60.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 22.31%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 27th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 27th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 1,925 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 2.8% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 4,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Sempra by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.