Intact Investment Management Inc. Acquires 18,200 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 30.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 78,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $5,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,018,055 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,527,944,000 after buying an additional 490,269 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,369,076,000 after buying an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.0% during the 4th 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $1,535,000,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,072,966 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,143,248,000 after buying an additional 311,094 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $74.09. The stock had a trading volume of 10,288,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,830,708. The company's 50-day moving average price is $75.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.61. The company has a market capitalization of $48.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 56.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $76.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.83.

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.