Royal Bank of Canada Acquires 8,459 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,346,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,459 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.36% of Sempra Energy worth $167,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 8.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 173,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,374,000 after acquiring an additional 13,433 shares during the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.0% during the first quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 49,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,569,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 171.2% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 7,012 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth $483,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 81.0% during the first quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 46,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,302,000 after purchasing an additional 20,707 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.3%

SRE opened at $82.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.61. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

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.