Insider Selling: Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) CAO Sells 1,539 Shares of Stock

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) CAO Dyan Wold sold 1,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total value of $146,789.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,633 shares in the company, valued at $441,895.54. This trade represents a 24.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $96.01. 3,561,809 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,288,105. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $97.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $90.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.78.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The company 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. 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 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $914,924,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 14.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,725,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,813,784,000 after acquiring an additional 9,396,652 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 106.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 9.2% in the third 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,330,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,971,524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250,783 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays set a $95.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Argus raised Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.00.

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.