Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $84.49 and last traded at $84.42, with a volume of 1210909 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. 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 upped their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sempra from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.20.

Sempra Trading Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $52.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $81.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.32.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.03). Sempra had a net margin of 22.31% and a return on equity of 8.58%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Sempra in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $815,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at $2,293,000. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Sempra by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 117,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,418,000 after acquiring an additional 14,100 shares during the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd grew its position in Sempra by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,891,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $207,662,000 after acquiring an additional 133,119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Sempra by 249.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 155,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,195,000 after purchasing an additional 111,314 shares in the last quarter. 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.