Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by Hudson Bay Capital Management LP

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 109.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 477,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 249,314 shares during the quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $42,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $942,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% in the 3rd 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. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.2% in the third quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 9,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $871,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 24.4% in the second quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $95.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $62.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.73. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $97.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 93.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on SRE. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Argus upgraded Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.55.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 39,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,613,304.82. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 2,692 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $93.30 per share, with a total value of $251,163.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,621,180.80. This represents a 18.33% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy 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.