Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Price Target Raised to $106.00

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $98.00 to $106.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.55.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $91.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $97.44.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 95.29%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $92.95 per share, with a total value of $232,375.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,011.25. The trade was a 28.49% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jennifer M. Kirk bought 1,000 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $93.44 per share, for a total transaction of $93,440.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,440. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,678,000 after buying an additional 13,864 shares in the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,091,000. Amundi lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 20.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,429,000 after acquiring an additional 327,154 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 5.7% in the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 203,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,302,000 after acquiring an additional 11,020 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $150,993,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.