Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in a research report issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.01% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.55.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $85.96 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $54.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 12 month low of $66.40 and a 12 month high of $86.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.97.

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

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Sempra during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp raised its stake in Sempra by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. 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.