Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.4167.

SRE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $91.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.30. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. 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 capitalization of $59.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,128.75. The trade was a 27.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director directly owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 47,619 shares of company stock worth $4,122,392 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 worth $3,474,236,000 after buying an additional 10,278,893 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,725,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,813,784,000 after acquiring an additional 9,396,652 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $701,649,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 106.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 9.2% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,865,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,572,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.