State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 6,537 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,635 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,537 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $16,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pingora Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 230.8% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $92.81 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.71. The stock has a market cap of $60.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 62.32%.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday. Barclays set a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.50.

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.