Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

SRE has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Sempra in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. They issued a buy rating and a $89.00 price target for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Sempra in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an overweight rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Sempra from $79.00 to $76.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $86.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Sempra from $87.00 to $83.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $82.43.

Sempra Stock Down 1.2 %

Sempra stock opened at $70.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $44.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Sempra has a twelve month low of $68.27 and a twelve month high of $88.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $72.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.33.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.08. Sempra had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 10.04%. The business had revenue of $3.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sempra

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Sempra by 0.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,141,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $191,963,000 after buying an additional 6,246 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sempra by 780.0% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new position in Sempra during the first quarter valued at $782,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Sempra by 3.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 668,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,411,000 after acquiring an additional 23,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra by 77.4% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 13,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 5,924 shares during the last quarter. 84.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Sempra

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: San Diego Gas & Electric Company, Southern California Gas Company, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The San Diego Gas & Electric Company segment provides to San Diego and southern Orange counties; and natural gas service to San Diego County.