FORA Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 88,566 Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC has acquired 88,566 shares of Sempra Energy, valued at approximately $6.32 million, during the first quarter of the fiscal year.
• Recent trades by insiders, including sales by SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque and EVP Caroline Ann Winn, resulted in notable decreases in their ownership of the stock.
• Sempra Energy's stock rating is currently a Moderate Buy, with an average target price of $81.58 as per recent analyst ratings.

FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 88,566 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,320,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Eastern Bank raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,000. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, 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.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

SRE stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $81.54. The stock had a trading volume of 2,535,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,531,272. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.73. 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 $53.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.62. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. Sempra Energy'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.

Sempra Energy Company 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.