Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Price

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its target price dropped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $85.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.08% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on SRE. UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.54.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $71.99 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $45.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $866,000 after acquiring an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Sempra by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 493,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,314,000 after purchasing an additional 147,495 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,647,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.