Forsta AP Fonden Buys 15,500 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden increased its stock holdings in Sempra Energy by 12.3% in Q1, now owning 141,200 shares valued at approximately $10.08 million.
• Sempra Energy's stock has seen various analyst ratings, with a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.58.
• The company recently reported an EPS of $0.89 for the last quarter, beating estimates, with a revenue of $3 billion slightly below expectations.

Forsta AP Fonden increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 12.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 141,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,500 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $10,076,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.7% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 5.0% in the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 target price (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.58.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE traded up $1.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $82.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,601,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,605,377. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.71. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $53.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is presently 62.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of Sempra Energy 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 sale, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.