SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 167,625 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 377.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 212,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 167,625 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $18,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 18,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,285,000 after purchasing an additional 6,196 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 53,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 15,474 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 2.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 143,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,851,000 after buying an additional 3,866 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at about $343,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 2.1% during the second quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SRE. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays set a $95.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.73.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:SRE opened at $95.72 on Friday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.48. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $97.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.53 billion, a PE ratio of 34.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a $0.6575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 95.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total value of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,304.82. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total value of $146,789.82. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,633 shares in the company, valued at $441,895.54. This represents a 24.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Sempra Energy

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.