Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Sempra Energy from hold to sell, adding a bearish note to the stock’s recent analyst coverage.
• Despite the downgrade, broader analyst sentiment remains constructive: the stock still carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $102.75.
• Sempra reported Q1 EPS of $1.51, matching estimates, but revenue came in below expectations at $3.65 billion versus $4.10 billion forecast, while insiders recently sold shares and institutions continue to hold the vast majority of the stock.

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

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial set a $104.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.75.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $93.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.56. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $73.18 and a 1-year high of $101.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The business's fifty day moving average price is $91.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.90.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.51. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 14.31%.Sempra Energy's revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. Sempra Energy has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.100-5.700 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 4.870-5.370 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 8,000 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.55, for a total transaction of $724,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,278,600.20. The trade was a 24.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 3,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.13, for a total transaction of $304,029.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,870 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,107,013.10. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,900 shares of company stock valued at $1,261,207. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,734,070 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,774,907,000 after buying an additional 1,008,476 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 4,572,312 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,810,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,273,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824,280 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake 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 worth $1,971,524,000 after acquiring an additional 3,250,783 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 116,554 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

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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