Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Buys 18,359 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 32.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 74,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,359 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $6,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Norges Bank bought a new position in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $701,649,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 786.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,957,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,082,000 after buying an additional 2,623,637 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 809.5% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,750,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,435,000 after buying an additional 2,448,415 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $160,357,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,328,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,025,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090,840 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $88.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.59. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $90.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.74. The company has a market capitalization of $57.97 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on SRE shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. BTIG Research raised shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $698,081.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,731.20. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 19,396 shares of company stock worth $1,785,606 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.