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

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Barclays from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $72.00 target price on the utilities provider's stock, down from their prior target price of $95.00. Barclays's price objective points to a potential upside of 0.83% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on SRE. UBS Group downgraded Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research report 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 report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.92.

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Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded down $0.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $71.41. 4,648,956 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,502,301. 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 1 year low of $64.89 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $46.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $83.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.79.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

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

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.