Strs Ohio Decreases Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Strs Ohio decreased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 254,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,958 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $22,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 14.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,725,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,813,784,000 after purchasing an additional 9,396,652 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 106.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 9.2% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,865,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,572,312 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 40.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,419,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $937,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,984,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 20,627.9% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,898,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $170,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,889,515 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley set a $104.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 2,500 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $92.95 per share, with a total value of $232,375.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 11,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,011.25. This represents a 28.49% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,304.82. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 and have sold 7,539 shares worth $706,906. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of SRE opened at $94.79 on Monday. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $73.06 and a twelve month high of $101.04. The company has a market cap of $61.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.97.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th were paid a $0.6575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 95.29%.

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.