Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.73.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $97.18 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.79. The company has a market cap of $63.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $97.61.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Sempra Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 95.29%.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $451,049.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,304.82. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 2,692 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $93.30 per share, with a total value of $251,163.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 17,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,621,180.80. This represents a 18.33% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,734,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,774,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,476 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 4,572,312 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,810,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,273,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,280 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,330,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,971,524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,298,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,256,592,000 after purchasing an additional 116,554 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.