UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Purchases 9,132 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 61,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,132 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $5,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 6,196 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 53,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after buying an additional 15,474 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at about $215,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.2% during the second quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,138,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 69.1% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $698,081.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 41,280 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,731.20. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total value of $137,983.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,093.78. The trade was a 30.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 19,396 shares of company stock worth $1,785,606 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of SRE opened at $85.92 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.08 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.74. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $89.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 15.63%.The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $112.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.83.

Sempra Energy 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.