Alta Advisers Ltd Invests $240,000 in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Alta Advisers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,365 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 125,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,952,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.9% in the first quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 87.7% during the 1st quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 4,738 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,214 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,058 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,645,000 after acquiring an additional 2,196 shares during the period. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,852,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on SRE shares. Argus downgraded Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 target price (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.83.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock traded down $1.36 on Wednesday, hitting $74.82. 3,303,789 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,858,751. The company has a market capitalization of $48.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.45%. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is 56.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Sempra Energy

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.