Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Downgraded to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Sempra Energy from a "hold" to a "sell", though the broader analyst mix is mixed and MarketBeat's consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a $100.73 price target.
• Sempra's latest quarter beat on EPS ($1.28 vs. $1.12 expected) but missed revenue ($3.75B vs. $3.82B expected) and reported a slight year-over-year revenue decline.
• The stock trades near $95.72 with a market cap of about $62.5B and a P/E around 34.7, and insiders showed activity last quarter (one CAO sale and a director purchase), with insiders net acquiring 6,192 shares.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SRE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Argus upgraded Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.73.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $95.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $62.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.68, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $97.44. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $91.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.55.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total value of $146,789.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,633 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $441,895.54. This trade represents a 24.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 2,500 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $92.95 per share, with a total value of $232,375.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,048,011.25. The trade was a 28.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,734,070 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,774,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,476 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.2% during 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 buying an additional 4,572,312 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,810,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,273,460,000 after buying an additional 1,824,280 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,330,091 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,971,524,000 after buying an additional 3,250,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,298,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,256,592,000 after buying an additional 116,554 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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