Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 8,680 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Sempra Energy by 0.5% during Q1, acquiring an additional 8,680 shares, bringing its total holdings to 1,931,807 shares valued at approximately $137.8 million.
• Several hedge funds have also boosted their stakes in Sempra Energy, with Horizon Investments growing its holdings by 12.4% and Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increasing theirs by 53.2% during the same period.
• Sempra Energy's recent quarterly earnings beat expectations, reporting $0.89 EPS against an estimate of $0.82, but its revenue decreased by 0.4% year-over-year.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,931,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,680 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.30% of Sempra Energy worth $137,825,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 11,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays boosted 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. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. 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. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $81.76. 3,964,103 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,547,895. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.