Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday. Finally, Argus raised Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $93.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.36. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $97.44.

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

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total value of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,304.82. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,678,000 after buying an additional 13,864 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,091,000. Amundi raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,429,000 after acquiring an additional 327,154 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $212,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 74,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,714,000 after acquiring an additional 18,359 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.