Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Bought by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 2.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 513,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,000 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $39,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,584,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,047 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,278,893 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $951,312,000 after acquiring an additional 41,104 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,671,000 after acquiring an additional 291,026 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $534,479,000 after acquiring an additional 823,663 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $60.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.52.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 62.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Profile

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.