New York State Common Retirement Fund Raises Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 1.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 815,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $61,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 21.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,656,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,950,000 after purchasing an additional 648,530 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 7.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,495,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,435,000 after purchasing an additional 229,045 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.5% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,182,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $155,739,000 after purchasing an additional 52,838 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 46.0% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after purchasing an additional 11,811 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total transaction of $137,983.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 3,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,093.78. This represents a 30.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 62,693 shares of company stock worth $5,507,997 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $94.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $61.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.72.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. Sempra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 79.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price target on Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, November 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.92.

Sempra Energy Company 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.