Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on SRE. Wall Street Zen raised Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $92.71 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.18. 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 stock has a market cap of $60.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.73. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $97.44.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a $0.6575 dividend. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 93.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,483,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $219,295,000 after acquiring an additional 234,894 shares during the period. Bayban acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 46,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,130,000 after purchasing an additional 10,584 shares during the last quarter. EJMK Ventures LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $226,000. Finally, Tobam acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $389,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.