SRE vs. AEP, LNT, ATO, DTE, NI, NJR, OGE, OGS, SWX, and D
Should you be buying Sempra Energy stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Sempra Energy include American Electric Power (AEP), Alliant Energy (LNT), Atmos Energy (ATO), DTE Energy (DTE), NiSource (NI), NewJersey Resources (NJR), OGE Energy (OGE), ONE Gas (OGS), Southwest Gas (SWX), and Dominion Energy (D). These companies are all part of the "utilities" sector.
Sempra Energy vs. Its Competitors
Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) and American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, media sentiment, dividends and risk.
89.7% of Sempra Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.2% of American Electric Power shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Sempra Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of American Electric Power shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Sempra Energy has a net margin of 20.28% compared to American Electric Power's net margin of 17.68%. American Electric Power's return on equity of 11.55% beat Sempra Energy's return on equity.
Sempra Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.58 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. American Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $3.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Sempra Energy pays out 62.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. American Electric Power pays out 54.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Sempra Energy has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years and American Electric Power has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. American Electric Power is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
American Electric Power has higher revenue and earnings than Sempra Energy. American Electric Power is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sempra Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Sempra Energy has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Electric Power has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Sempra Energy presently has a consensus price target of $86.09, suggesting a potential downside of 6.68%. American Electric Power has a consensus price target of $116.91, suggesting a potential downside of 1.25%. Given American Electric Power's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Electric Power is more favorable than Sempra Energy.
In the previous week, American Electric Power had 16 more articles in the media than Sempra Energy. MarketBeat recorded 36 mentions for American Electric Power and 20 mentions for Sempra Energy. Sempra Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat American Electric Power's score of 1.35 indicating that Sempra Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Summary
Sempra Energy beats American Electric Power on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get Sempra Energy News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for SRE and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding SRE and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Media Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Sempra Energy Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools
This page (NYSE:SRE) was last updated on 10/15/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
