Sempra (NYSE:SRE) Given New $80.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $77.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 1.67% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on SRE. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Sempra from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH decreased their target price on shares of Sempra from $81.50 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sempra from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Sempra from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.36.

Sempra Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.36. 454,847 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,948,035. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.56 and a 200 day moving average of $74.14. Sempra has a twelve month low of $63.75 and a twelve month high of $83.68.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.46 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.58% and a net margin of 22.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Sempra will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sempra

In other Sempra news, CAO Peter R. Wall sold 6,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.07, for a total value of $457,927.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 14,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,357.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra during the second quarter worth $30,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sempra by 195.1% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Sempra during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, SouthState Corp grew its position in shares of Sempra by 900.0% during the 2nd quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.