Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,328,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,090,840 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Sempra Energy worth $5,025,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 19.5% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 3,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 7.5% in the second quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 234,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,755,000 after purchasing an additional 16,370 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,036,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $154,330,000 after purchasing an additional 93,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 329,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,080,000 after buying an additional 14,932 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SRE. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research raised shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.42.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $91.14 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.37. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.49 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released 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. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. This represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of Sempra Energy 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. This represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 55,129 shares of company stock valued at $4,809,916 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.