Analysts Set Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Price Target at $84.55

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $84.5455.

Several brokerages recently commented on SRE. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $91.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $59.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.10, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.66. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.31.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $1,291,753.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.