Barclays Increases Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target to $87.00

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price objective hoisted by Barclays from $81.00 to $87.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on SRE. Mizuho boosted their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $83.00.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $78.51 on Tuesday. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $83.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $49.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $76.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.75.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 22.31%. Sempra’s revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares in the company, valued at $422,597.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 1,925 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $77.97 per share, for a total transaction of $150,092.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,357.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 6,656.3% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 47,902 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,580,000 after purchasing an additional 47,193 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Sempra by 108.8% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 94,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,032,000 after buying an additional 12,398 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $288,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,847,000. 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.