State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Purchases 6,537 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 218,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,537 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $16,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Pingora Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 230.8% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 74.1% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new position in Sempra Energy during the second quarter worth $51,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 48,411 shares of company stock worth $4,141,790 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.1%

SRE opened at $92.81 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.31 and its 200 day moving average is $79.71.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.32%.

About Sempra Energy

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.