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

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its target price increased by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $79.00 to $84.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.06% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Sempra in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.23.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of Sempra stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.30. The company had a trading volume of 519,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,930,196. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.86. The company has a market capitalization of $46.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Sempra has a 1-year low of $63.75 and a 1-year high of $78.70. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.01). Sempra had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 9.45%. The business had revenue of $3.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 44.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total value of $280,353.77. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 5,063 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.22, for a total transaction of $360,586.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,888.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,292,105.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 122,432 shares of company stock worth $8,668,035 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. WFA of San Diego LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. grew its position in Sempra by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 68,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,673,000 after purchasing an additional 34,348 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased 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 buying an additional 17,491 shares during the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Sempra by 13.5% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT purchased a new stake in Sempra during the fourth quarter worth about $9,715,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.