Morgan Stanley Cuts Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Price Target to $100.00

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $104.00 to $100.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $104.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.69.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $81.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $53.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.55. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $79.59 and a 12-month high of $101.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.05.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.15. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 16.70%.The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sempra Energy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.100-5.700 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.800-5.300 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 24th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,555,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 15.5% during the first quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 167,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,265,000 after acquiring an additional 22,408 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 4.2% during the first quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,258,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $219,446,000 after purchasing an additional 91,519 shares in the last quarter. Dockside LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,938,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 16.1% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,385,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,009,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441,981 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

About Sempra Energy

Sempra, formerly known as Sempra Energy, is an energy infrastructure company headquartered in San Diego, California. The company develops, owns and operates energy networks and infrastructure that support the delivery of natural gas and electricity, with operations focused primarily on North America.

Through its California utilities, Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas & Electric, Sempra provides natural gas distribution and electric services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.