Wesbanco Bank Inc. Raises Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 92.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,981 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,474,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $192,130,000. PointState Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $154,369,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 42.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $331,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,584,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,047 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $83.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.74. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.27.

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.