Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Barclays set a $95.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.55.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Sempra Energy stock opened at $91.75 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $97.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $59.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.01.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .2% 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 fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Jennifer M. Kirk bought 1,000 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $93.44 per share, with a total value of $93,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,440. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total value of $146,789.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 4,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,895.54. This represents a 24.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $914,924,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $6,813,784,000 after purchasing an additional 9,396,652 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 106.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,330,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,971,524,000 after buying an additional 3,250,783 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

About Sempra Energy

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.