Wall Street Zen Upgrades Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) to Hold

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup reiterated 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. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (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 shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.55.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 3.7%

SRE stock opened at $91.75 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $97.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average is $91.45 and its 200-day moving average is $90.12. The firm has a market cap of $59.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. Sempra Energy’s revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in Sempra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.6% in the 4th quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 83.0% in the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 355 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sempra Energy

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.