Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Raised to “Buy” at Argus

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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 restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays set a $95.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.20.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $95.35 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $62.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.96 and its 200-day moving average is $89.02. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $97.44.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $914,924,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,725,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,813,784,000 after purchasing an additional 9,396,652 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 106.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.2% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,865,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,572,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,330,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,971,524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250,783 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

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.