Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Barclays

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $101.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $80.00. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 9.51% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $92.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $60.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.12. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $1,291,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,259. This represents a 93.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SRE. First National Bank Sioux Falls bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Pacific Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $258,000. PDS Planning Inc lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,038 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 117.4% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, PUREfi Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 16.1% during the 3rd quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 4,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy 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.