33,541 Shares in Sempra Energy $SRE Bought by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 33,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,018,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 328,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,580,000 after acquiring an additional 16,319 shares in the last quarter. Grey Fox Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the third quarter worth about $54,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the third quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 64,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 61.6% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 13,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 5,098 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $112.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $97.00 price target (down from $98.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.83.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE SRE opened at $85.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $56.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $89.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.71. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.72.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.67%. Sempra Energy’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total value of $45,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 33,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,086,988.80. This trade represents a 1.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $137,983.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,481 shares in the company, valued at $318,093.78. The trade was a 30.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,396 shares of company stock valued at $1,785,606. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy 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.