Capital International Investors Boosts Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 9.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,572,312 shares during the quarter. Sempra Energy comprises 0.8% of Capital International Investors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Capital International Investors owned about 8.28% of Sempra Energy worth $4,865,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.1% during the third quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 6,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 9,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,304.82. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $93.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $61.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.87, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $90.37 and a 200 day moving average of $89.36. 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 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $97.44.

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

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.48%.

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.