Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) was downgraded by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $76.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their previous price target of $99.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 7.54% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upgraded Sempra from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.83.

Sempra Trading Down 18.9 %

Shares of SRE opened at $70.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.52. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $44.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $83.96 and its 200-day moving average is $84.93.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $4,125,186.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 2,453 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the fourth quarter worth approximately $90,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 493,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,314,000 after purchasing an additional 147,495 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at $1,647,000. 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.