Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Receives $99.10 Average Target Price from Analysts

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $99.20.

SRE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 51.2% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 245.1% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 1.5%

SRE opened at $93.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $90.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.10. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $97.44. The stock has a market cap of $61.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Sempra Energy’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This is a positive change from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.48%.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

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.