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

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) was downgraded by equities research analysts at UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $78.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $95.00. UBS Group’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 10.37% from the stock’s current price.

SRE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays decreased their price target on Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.83.

Sempra Trading Down 18.9 %

NYSE:SRE opened at $70.67 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.93.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra by 633.4% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 29,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,624,000 after acquiring an additional 25,838 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in Sempra in the third quarter valued at about $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after purchasing an additional 278,183 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Sempra by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,865,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $675,000. 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.