Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Price

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $87.00 to $96.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective 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 lifted their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $91.25 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. Sempra has a 1-year low of $66.40 and a 1-year high of $91.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.01%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter valued at $18,131,000. Cypress Capital Group acquired a new position in Sempra during the third quarter worth $241,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its holdings in Sempra by 8.3% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 137,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,525,000 after buying an additional 10,519 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 3.5% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,840,876 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,952,000 after buying an additional 63,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $88,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.