Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target Lowered to $85.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $88.00 to $85.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

SRE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lowered Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sempra from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Argus downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.33.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $70.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.31. The firm has a market cap of $46.10 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra has a 1-year low of $64.89 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. Sempra’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. This is a boost from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Sempra’s payout ratio is presently 58.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This trade represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $225,717.15. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Sempra by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 31,674 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,010 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Sempra during the third quarter valued at $81,000. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra by 55.7% in the third quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 7,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $592,000 after acquiring an additional 2,530 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 117,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,808,000 after acquiring an additional 9,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 3rd quarter worth about $466,000. 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.