Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Stock Price

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 21.18% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SRE. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Argus lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective (down from $96.00) on shares of Sempra in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.33.

Sempra Stock Down 0.9 %

SRE stock opened at $70.15 on Wednesday. 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 50-day moving average of $77.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.22. Sempra has a 12 month low of $64.89 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero acquired 2,600 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,110,453.04. This represents a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Sempra by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 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.