Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 125.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 225,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 125,380 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $17,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,328,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,025,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090,840 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,058,214,000 after purchasing an additional 525,750 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $951,312,000 after buying an additional 41,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,671,000 after buying an additional 291,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 500 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total value of $45,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 33,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,086,988.80. The trade was a 1.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 55,129 shares of company stock worth $4,809,916 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $98.00 price target on Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday. Mizuho lifted 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. BTIG Research raised shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $92.54 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $90.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.64. The firm has a market cap of $60.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 79.14%.

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.