OFI Invest Asset Management Takes $759,000 Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 8,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $759,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 117.4% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus upgraded Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barclays set a $95.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.73.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $99.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $65.07 and a 52-week high of $101.04.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.Sempra Energy’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a $0.6575 dividend. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 95.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Jennifer M. Kirk bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $93.44 per share, with a total value of $93,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,440. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $92.95 per share, with a total value of $232,375.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,011.25. This trade represents a 28.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and have sold 7,539 shares valued at $706,906. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Sempra Energy

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.