Insider Selling: Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) CFO Sells $451,049.76 in Stock

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) CFO Karen Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,304.82. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $60.60 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.45. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $97.44.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.6% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 83.0% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 355 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.