Sempra Energy ( NYSE: SRE ) +1% in Wednesday's trading after Goldman Sachs upgraded shares to Buy from Neutral with a $167 price target, citing exposure through multiple potential growth projects to the major theme of LNG development.
Goldman's Michael Lapides also likes the solid demand growth in Sempra's ( SRE ) Texas utility that could lead to potential rate base and earnings upside there, and the potential resolution by year-end of the California cost of capital docket given the schedule published by the CPUC stating a target year-end resolution, which could alleviate an overhang.
Sempra ( SRE ) maintains a solid free cash flow outlook in the near term, and capital allocation could still come in above peer group levels in the coming years, Lapides said.
Sempra ( SRE ) expects to grow its earnings per share by 6%-8% annually on average until at least 2026, making the stock "a solid pick in the ongoing bear market," Aristofanis Papadatos writes in a bullish analysis posted recently on Seeking Alpha .
For further details see:
Sempra Energy upgraded at Goldman on LNG growth exposure