Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Barclays

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) was downgraded by investment analysts at Barclays from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $72.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous target price of $95.00. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.70% from the company’s current price.

SRE has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.54.

Sempra Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of SRE opened at $71.50 on Thursday. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $45.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $83.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.70. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. Sempra’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. TCTC Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 265.2% during the 4th quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.