Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Given New $84.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price target raised by research 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 price target suggests a potential upside of 9.52% from the company’s previous close.

SRE has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Sempra from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho decreased their price target 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 upped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.23.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.70. 394,141 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,948,297. Sempra has a one year low of $63.75 and a one year high of $78.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.84 and a 200 day moving average of $71.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $5.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Sempra’s revenue was down 44.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sempra

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Sempra news, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.21, for a total transaction of $280,353.77. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,292,105.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 57,571 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,922 shares in the company, valued at approximately $770,983.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 122,432 shares of company stock valued at $8,668,035 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Sempra by 101.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,117,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,225,884,000 after acquiring an additional 31,334,782 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Sempra by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,123,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,026,969,000 after buying an additional 2,917,668 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 104.0% during the 3rd quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 14,416,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $980,756,000 after buying an additional 7,348,746 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Sempra by 147.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,360,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,926,000 after buying an additional 8,546,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at 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.