111,823 Shares in Sempra Energy $SRE Bought by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 111,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,062,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.6% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 117.4% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Motco lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 1,945.8% in the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $97.44. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.48%.

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.