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

Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.8333.

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $112.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $87.37 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $89.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.56. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total transaction of $137,983.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,481 shares in the company, valued at $318,093.78. This trade represents a 30.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,500 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total value of $503,690.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,128,739.12. This trade represents a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 19,396 shares of company stock valued at $1,785,606 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at $3,091,000. Amundi lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,429,000 after buying an additional 327,154 shares in the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.3% during the second quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 353,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,794,000 after acquiring an additional 11,437 shares in the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $17,292,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company’s product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.