Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Price Target Raised to $93.00 at Mizuho

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) had its price objective boosted by Mizuho from $86.00 to $93.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SRE. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.55.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 2.4%

SRE opened at $88.60 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 62.32%.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 35,554 shares of company stock worth $2,976,117 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $157,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 78.7% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 2,453 shares in the last quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 55,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,589,000 after acquiring an additional 6,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 169,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,650,000 after acquiring an additional 50,566 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.