Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Sold by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS trimmed its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 367,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 131,400 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $32,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $6,813,784,000 after purchasing an additional 9,396,652 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted 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 valued at $4,865,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,572,312 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted 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 valued at $3,148,055,000 after purchasing an additional 606,101 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 valued at $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted 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 valued at $937,512,000 after purchasing an additional 2,984,409 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Argus raised Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.67.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.43 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.39 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $72.56 and a one year high of $101.04.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This is a boost from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 95.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 2,500 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased 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 approximately $1,048,011.25. The trade was a 28.49% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 1,128 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $109,066.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,091,598.08. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 and sold 7,539 shares worth $706,906. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

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.