Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Given New $95.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has raised its price target for Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00, reflecting a potential upside of 8.86% from the previous close.
• Other analysts have also upgraded their targets, with notable increases from Barclays ($71.00 to $80.00) and Citigroup ($70.00 to $80.00), while the average price target is currently $84.55.
• Sempra Energy recently reported earnings of $0.89 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and demonstrating stability despite a slight decline in revenue year-over-year.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the utilities provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target suggests a potential upside of 8.86% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $93.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.55.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $87.27 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.31. The company has a market cap of $56.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. This represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,554 shares of company stock worth $2,976,117 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,328,942 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,025,777,000 after buying an additional 2,090,840 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after buying an additional 10,278,893 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,380,068 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,626,827,000 after buying an additional 1,214,931 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,058,214,000 after buying an additional 525,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Newport Trust Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $951,312,000 after buying an additional 41,104 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Sempra Energy

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.

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