Morgan Stanley Cuts Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Price Target to $85.00

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $85.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 16.32% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Sempra from $99.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $96.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.08.

Sempra Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE SRE traded up $2.43 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $73.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,183,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,944,248. Sempra has a 52-week low of $64.89 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at $165.88. The trade was a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Sempra by 2.1% in 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. lifted its holdings in Sempra by 5.0% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.