Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $95.29 and last traded at $95.29, with a volume of 1431 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $94.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America started coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Sempra Stock Down 1.6 %

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’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.97. The firm has a market cap of $59.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is 54.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. The trade was a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 135,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,315,000 after acquiring an additional 12,346 shares during the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 319.5% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,980,000 after acquiring an additional 150,000 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 28.2% during the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 67,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,154,000 after purchasing an additional 14,890 shares in the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in Sempra during the 1st quarter valued at about $621,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Sempra by 1.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares in the last quarter. 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.