BMO Capital Markets Cuts Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target to $78.00

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price target reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $92.00 to $78.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential upside of 9.83% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on SRE. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.54.

Sempra Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of SRE traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $71.02. 2,803,556 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,434,172. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $82.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.73. 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 cap of $46.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. Sempra has a 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The business 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.94, for a total value of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Sempra by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra by 4.0% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 276,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,161,000 after buying an additional 10,720 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter worth about $211,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Sempra by 6.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 181,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,586,000 after acquiring an additional 11,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 9.3% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 61,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,135,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.