Barclays Raises Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target to $89.00

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its target price upped by Barclays from $87.00 to $89.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America assumed coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a buy rating and a $94.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $85.58.

Sempra Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $82.53 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.66. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.29 and a 52-week high of $84.47. The company has a market cap of $52.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.93%.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. SouthState Corp grew its holdings in Sempra by 900.0% in the second quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 89.65% of the stock is 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.