Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Short Interest Down 13.1% in March

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 8,870,993 shares, a decline of 13.1% from the February 26th total of 10,207,847 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,349,379 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jennifer M. Kirk acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $93.44 per share, for a total transaction of $93,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,440. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total value of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,304.82. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,734,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,774,907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,476 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,865,115,000 after acquiring an additional 4,572,312 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,810,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,273,460,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824,280 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,330,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,971,524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,298,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,256,592,000 after purchasing an additional 116,554 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $97.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.79. The firm has a market cap of $63.49 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $97.61.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.Sempra Energy’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 95.29%.

About Sempra Energy

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.