Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Receives $96.92 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $96.1667.

SRE has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price objective on Sempra Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $698,081.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,500 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total transaction of $503,690.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,164 shares in the company, valued at $3,128,739.12. This represents a 13.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 33,829 shares of company stock valued at $3,077,360 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 21.6% in 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 in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 7.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,495,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $249,435,000 after acquiring an additional 229,045 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.5% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,182,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $155,739,000 after purchasing an additional 52,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 11,811 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $86.97 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $91.38 and a 200 day moving average of $84.42. 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 company has a market capitalization of $56.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 79.14%.

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.