Guggenheim Lowers Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target to $87.00

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price objective lowered by investment analysts at Guggenheim from $95.00 to $87.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Guggenheim’s price target suggests a potential upside of 20.68% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.31.

Sempra Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE SRE traded up $1.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.09. 6,882,954 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,010,266. The firm has a market cap of $45.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.93. 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 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.13 EPS. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In related news, 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 value of $4,125,186.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, 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 insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $154,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at about $90,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Sempra by 42.6% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 493,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,314,000 after buying an additional 147,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sempra in the fourth quarter worth about $1,647,000. 89.65% of the stock is 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.