Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $84.5455.

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 245.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE:SRE opened at $91.48 on Tuesday. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.31.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 62.32%.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.