Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Given New $70.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $93.00 to $70.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Sempra from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Argus downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price target (down previously from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered shares of Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.46.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $1.87 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,899,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,658,623. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Sempra has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.15 billion, a PE ratio of 14.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is 58.37%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $70.65 per share, with a total value of $49,455.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,759 shares in the company, valued at $618,823.35. This represents a 8.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 and have sold 57,309 shares worth $4,694,019. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Company Profile

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.