Sempra (NYSE:SRE) PT Raised to $84.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $84.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price points to a potential upside of 9.52% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Barclays raised their price objective on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.23.

Sempra Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:SRE traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $76.70. The company had a trading volume of 394,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,948,297. The company has a market capitalization of $48.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.89. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $78.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 18.26%. Sempra’s revenue for the quarter was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total transaction of $4,063,936.89. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total value of $3,595,856.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $141.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.59, for a total value of $4,063,936.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,225,884,000 after purchasing an additional 31,334,782 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,917,668 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 104.0% in the third quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after acquiring an additional 7,348,746 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Sempra by 147.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $976,926,000 after buying an additional 8,546,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $958,253,000. Institutional investors 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.