Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC Makes New Investment in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased 16,946 shares of Sempra Energy, valued at approximately $1,209,000, during the 1st quarter, marking the firm's entry into the utilities sector.
• Institutional investors hold 89.65% of Sempra Energy's stock, indicating significant financial backing and interest from larger investment entities.
• Sempra Energy reported earnings of $0.89 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, despite a slight decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,946 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,209,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter worth $3,085,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 63.7% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 9,493 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $677,000 after buying an additional 3,693 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 72.7% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 47,319 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,377,000 after purchasing an additional 19,924 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 740,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $52,858,000 after purchasing an additional 183,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $333,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SRE. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of SRE stock traded up $1.05 on Friday, hitting $82.49. The company had a trading volume of 3,485,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,476,431. The firm has a market cap of $53.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's 50-day moving average is $79.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.73. 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 twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.