Analysts Set Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) PT at $96.17

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat 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 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $96.1667.

SRE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $88.82 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.72. The firm has a market cap of $57.97 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.81.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $698,081.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,731.20. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 19,396 shares of company stock worth $1,785,606 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 351.9% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 241,144 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,911,000 after buying an additional 187,777 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 57.3% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 34,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,436,000 after acquiring an additional 12,439 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $334,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 609.1% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 48,963 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,494,000 after acquiring an additional 42,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 21.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,656,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,950,000 after acquiring an additional 648,530 shares during the last quarter. 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.