Freedom Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 3,402 Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Freedom Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy, purchasing 3,402 shares valued at approximately $243,000 during the first quarter of the year.
• Institutional investors own about 89.65% of Sempra Energy's stock, with various firms recently modifying their positions, indicating increased interest in the company.
• Sempra Energy reported earnings per share of $0.89 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst estimates and reflecting a 20.28% net margin despite a slight decline in year-over-year revenue.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Eastern Bank lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $1.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.89. The company had a trading volume of 530,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,452,920. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $79.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.78, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.33.

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.