Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Price Target Lowered to $71.00 at Barclays

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at Barclays from $72.00 to $71.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Barclays's price objective would suggest a potential downside of 5.19% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SRE. Argus cut shares of Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.75.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.5%

SRE traded up $0.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $74.89. The stock had a trading volume of 2,638,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,882,814. The company has a market capitalization of $48.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.63. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.55.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 8.55%. Sempra Energy's revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Pingora Partners LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

About Sempra Energy

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.