Argus Upgrades Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) to “Buy”

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports.

SRE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. 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. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, November 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.20.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $93.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $61.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.73. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $97.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $90.20 and a 200-day moving average of $89.10.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 19.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,678,000 after buying an additional 13,864 shares in the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter worth about $3,091,000. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 20.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,429,000 after acquiring an additional 327,154 shares during the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 74,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,714,000 after purchasing an additional 18,359 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.