Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Downgraded to Equal Weight Rating by Barclays

Barclays cut shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. Barclays currently has $72.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $95.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SRE. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.54.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $71.99 on Thursday. Sempra has a twelve month low of $64.89 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.78.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.03. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Sempra’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 49,737 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $165.88. This represents a 100.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $866,000 after buying an additional 2,453 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at about $154,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Sempra by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 493,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,314,000 after acquiring an additional 147,495 shares during the period. Finally, Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter worth $1,647,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.