Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target Cut to $76.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $79.00 to $76.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH dropped their price objective on Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $82.10.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $76.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.94. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $78.83. The firm has a market cap of $48.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 8.95%. The business’s revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 27th will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 54.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,357.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 1,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $77.97 per share, with a total value of $150,092.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,420 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $422,597.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sempra by 195.1% during the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Rational Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the first quarter worth approximately $43,000. 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.