Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Price Target to $115.00

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) had its price target boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $113.00 to $115.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 23.44% from the stock’s current price.

SRE has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.73.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $93.17 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $91.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.12. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $97.44. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $60.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 39,029 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,304.82. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jennifer M. Kirk bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $93.44 per share, for a total transaction of $93,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,440. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,678,000 after acquiring an additional 13,864 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,091,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 20.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,429,000 after acquiring an additional 327,154 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 5.7% during the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 203,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,302,000 after purchasing an additional 11,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $150,993,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.