Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating 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 report released on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $78.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $95.00. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.37% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.83.

Sempra Stock Down 18.9 %

Sempra stock opened at $70.67 on Wednesday. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.93.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total value of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. 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 transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,527,944,000 after purchasing an additional 490,269 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Sempra by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Sempra by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 32,940,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,774,974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,026 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Sempra by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,535,000,000. Hedge funds and other 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.