Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Rating Lowered by UBS Group

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) was downgraded by UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $78.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $95.00. UBS Group’s target price suggests a potential upside of 8.35% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on SRE. Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley raised Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.54.

Sempra Stock Performance

Sempra stock opened at $71.99 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8,093.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 52,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after acquiring an additional 51,879 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 17.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 17,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,693 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Sempra by 20.0% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 51,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,289,000 after acquiring an additional 8,587 shares during the period. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at $351,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.