Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP Buys 342,170 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 54.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 969,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 342,170 shares during the period. Sempra Energy accounts for about 1.9% of Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $87,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 19.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,678,000 after buying an additional 13,864 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $3,091,000. Amundi grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,429,000 after acquiring an additional 327,154 shares during the last quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 32.6% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 74,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,714,000 after acquiring an additional 18,359 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $112.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.17.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $94.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $89.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.54. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.74.

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.