BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Price

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price objective reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $92.00 to $78.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays cut shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $77.00 target price (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.50.

Sempra Stock Down 3.3 %

Sempra stock opened at $69.55 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $81.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $45.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is an increase from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra by 633.4% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra in the third quarter valued at about $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Sempra by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 1.9% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at approximately $675,000. 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.