Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $98.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $85.00. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 11.45% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Sempra from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sempra from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Sempra in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.60.

Sempra Price Performance

Sempra stock opened at $87.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $87.95 and a 200-day moving average of $82.06. Sempra has a 52-week low of $66.40 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.05 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a net margin of 22.63% and a return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Trevor I. Mihalik sold 23,713 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.09, for a total transaction of $2,207,443.17. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,190 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,677.10. This represents a 67.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of Sempra in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,023,000. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its stake in Sempra by 319.5% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 196,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,980,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra by 28.2% during the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 67,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,154,000 after acquiring an additional 14,890 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Sempra by 1.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 357,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Sempra by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 107,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,015,000 after acquiring an additional 7,198 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.