Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $91.50.

SRE has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BTIG Research raised Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $701,649,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $192,130,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 786.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,957,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,082,000 after purchasing an additional 2,623,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 809.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,750,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,435,000 after purchasing an additional 2,448,415 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

SRE opened at $92.81 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $60.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average of $86.31 and a 200-day moving average of $79.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

About Sempra Energy

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.