Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has increased its price target for Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.35% from the current price.
• The stock has received ratings of "Buy" and "Outperform" from several analysts, with an average target price of $89.83 and a general consensus of "Moderate Buy."
• Sempra Energy reported quarterly earnings of $0.89 per share, exceeding estimates, but experienced a slight revenue decline compared to the previous year.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $95.00 to $99.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the utilities provider's stock. BMO Capital Markets' price target would indicate a potential upside of 7.35% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $93.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $106.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.83.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE opened at $92.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $60.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company's 50-day moving average price is $85.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.12. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. Sempra Energy's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,474,236,000 after buying an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $701,649,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $192,130,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 786.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,957,399 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $224,082,000 after buying an additional 2,623,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 809.5% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,750,891 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $208,435,000 after buying an additional 2,448,415 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by 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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