Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Shares Bought by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,355,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 23,097 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned 0.36% of Sempra Energy worth $164,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,369,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,082,261 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $584,763,000 after acquiring an additional 2,758,037 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 71.3% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $408,069,000 after buying an additional 1,936,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,797,376,000 after buying an additional 1,511,313 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Argus lowered Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.59. 2,819,308 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,882,120. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $48.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $75.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.46. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 22.15%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Sempra Energy's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

Sempra Energy Profile

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.