Argus Downgrades Sempra (NYSE:SRE) to Hold

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) was downgraded by stock analysts at Argus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Sempra from $92.00 to $78.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Sempra from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays cut Sempra from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $95.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.50.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $71.06 on Tuesday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $78.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.75. The company has a market cap of $46.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.76. Sempra has a 12-month low of $64.89 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra news, Director Michael N. Mears bought 1,000 shares of Sempra stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $67.70 per share, for a total transaction of $67,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,500. This represents a 25.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Pablo Ferrero purchased 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $70.96 per share, for a total transaction of $184,496.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,649 shares in the company, valued at $1,110,453.04. The trade was a 19.92 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 9,319 shares of company stock valued at $651,676. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra by 1.5% in 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. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,585 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its position in Sempra by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Sempra by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.