Friedenthal Financial Takes Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 11,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,031,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,725,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,813,784,000 after buying an additional 9,396,652 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,865,115,000 after buying an additional 4,572,312 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,986,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,148,055,000 after buying an additional 606,101 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 106.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,325,000 after buying an additional 5,374,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 40.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,419,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $937,512,000 after buying an additional 2,984,409 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $92.95 per share, for a total transaction of $232,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,011.25. The trade was a 28.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total transaction of $146,789.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,633 shares in the company, valued at $441,895.54. This trade represents a 24.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and sold 7,539 shares valued at $706,906. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $94.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $69.08 and a 1-year high of $101.04. The company has a market capitalization of $61.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.85.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th were given a $0.6575 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 19th. This is a positive change from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. Argus raised shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.64.

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.