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

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $84.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 13.06% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Barclays upped their price target on Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.23.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE SRE traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $74.30. 519,965 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,930,196. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a 52 week low of $63.75 and a 52 week high of $78.70. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $3.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.58 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Sempra news, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $770,983.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 50,703 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.92, for a total transaction of $3,595,856.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA of San Diego LLC boosted its position in Sempra by 29.9% during the third quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the period. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in Sempra by 100.0% in the third quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 68,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,673,000 after buying an additional 34,348 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in Sempra by 114.4% in the 3rd quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 32,782 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 17,491 shares during the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 172,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT acquired a new position in shares of Sempra in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,715,000. 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.