Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Given “Overweight” Rating at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Morgan Stanley currently has a $88.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $87.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus cut Sempra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered Sempra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Sempra Energy from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.83.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE SRE opened at $74.09 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.80. The stock has a market cap of $48.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.64.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.90 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.70%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total value of $343,114.91. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,408,786.94. This trade represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. L & S Advisors Inc increased its position in Sempra Energy by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,649,000 after buying an additional 14,338 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $831,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period. Blue Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,556,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,740,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $328,147,000 after purchasing an additional 115,372 shares during the period. Finally, Crestline Management LP acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $6,183,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.