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

Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $96.9167.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SRE shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $88.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.59. The business’s fifty day moving average is $91.87 and its 200 day moving average is $84.09. The company has a market capitalization of $57.73 billion, a PE ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.73. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.72.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 15.63%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. 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 disclosed 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. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.14%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total transaction of $503,690.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 34,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,128,739.12. The trade was a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 62,693 shares of company stock valued at $5,507,997. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,725,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,813,784,000 after purchasing an additional 9,396,652 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 4,572,312 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after buying an additional 10,278,893 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,986,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,148,055,000 after buying an additional 606,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,058,214,000 after buying an additional 525,750 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.