Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) in a report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $98.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.55.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $84.38 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’s 50-day moving average price is $82.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.22. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $86.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Sempra Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp increased its stake in Sempra by 900.0% in the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. 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.