Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 135,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,464 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $10,251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,584,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,047 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its position in Sempra Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $951,312,000 after purchasing an additional 41,104 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,671,000 after purchasing an additional 291,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $534,479,000 after buying an additional 823,663 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,128.75. The trade was a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $1,291,753.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,259. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,619 shares of company stock worth $4,122,392. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.01. The firm has a market cap of $60.04 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 79.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.42.

Sempra Energy Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.