Capital International Investors Purchases 4,572,312 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Capital International Investors boosted its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,572,312 shares during the quarter. Sempra Energy makes up 0.8% of Capital International Investors’ portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Capital International Investors owned approximately 0.08% of Sempra Energy worth $4,865,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $6,813,784,000 after buying an additional 9,396,652 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,380,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,626,827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,931 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,058,214,000 after acquiring an additional 525,750 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 106.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $701,649,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $93.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $90.37 and a 200 day moving average of $89.36. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $97.44.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.6575 per share. 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. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, November 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus raised Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $451,049.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,304.82. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by 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.