Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,701 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $4,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,584,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,047 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 12.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $534,479,000 after buying an additional 823,663 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,181,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $629,978,000 after buying an additional 538,919 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,168,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,814,000 after buying an additional 25,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,865 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $88.00 price target (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (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 hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.58.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 1.0%

Sempra Energy stock opened at $81.74 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. 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 fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $77.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion during 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction of $126,080.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,969 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.