Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Given New $81.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Sempra (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $78.00 to $81.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the utilities provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' target price points to a potential upside of 6.62% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on SRE. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $89.00 price objective on Sempra and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus cut Sempra from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.77.

Sempra Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $75.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,633,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,719,547. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $70.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.47. Sempra 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 current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $49.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.63.

Sempra (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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 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 up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Sempra will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 2,755 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.93, for a total transaction of $225,717.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,139,236.65. The trade was a 16.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 9,319 shares of company stock worth $651,676. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,584,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,047 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Sempra by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after buying an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra during the 4th quarter valued at $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,143,248,000 after buying an additional 311,094 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.