Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Downgraded by Barclays to “Equal Weight”

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Barclays from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $72.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $95.00. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 0.96% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.54.

Sempra Stock Performance

SRE stock opened at $72.70 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $83.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.84. Sempra has a fifty-two week low of $64.89 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % 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 company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $2,624,000 after buying an additional 25,838 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the third quarter worth approximately $33,023,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 8.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,428,132 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,695,000 after acquiring an additional 278,183 shares during 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 valued at $29,865,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $675,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.