Ameriprise Financial Inc. Purchases 23,793 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. has increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.1%, acquiring an additional 23,793 shares and bringing its total ownership to 2,275,259 shares valued at approximately $161.5 million.
• Recent analysts' reports have resulted in revised price targets for Sempra Energy, with Citigroup setting a new target of $80.00 and BMO Capital Markets increasing theirs to $81.00, reflecting a positive outlook.
• Sempra Energy reported earnings of $0.89 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, although its revenue decreased by .4% year-over-year.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,275,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 23,793 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.35% of Sempra Energy worth $161,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,584,032,000 after buying an additional 1,220,047 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,278,893 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 4.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 291,026 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.4% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $534,479,000 after acquiring an additional 823,663 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,181,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $629,978,000 after buying an additional 538,919 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE stock traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $81.54. 1,267,600 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,476,769. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.62. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.