KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Reduces Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS cut its stake in Sempra Energy by 26.3%, selling 131,400 shares and ending the quarter with 367,324 shares worth about $32.7 million.
• Sempra beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.28 vs. $1.12) while revenue was slightly below expectations, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6575 (annualized $2.63, ~2.8% yield) with a high payout ratio of 95.3%.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive — consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $102.67 target and several firms raising price objectives — and company insiders also made recent share purchases.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lowered its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 26.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,324 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 131,400 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned 0.06% of Sempra Energy worth $32,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 2,092.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 463,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $40,898,000 after acquiring an additional 442,095 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 339,671 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $30,082,000 after acquiring an additional 10,932 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 88.8% during the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 406 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Busey Bank boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Busey Bank now owns 4,685 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 513,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,296,000 after acquiring an additional 24,314 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $92.43 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $95.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $72.56 and a 12-month high of $101.04. The firm has a market cap of $60.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.67.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th were paid a $0.6575 dividend. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 19th. This is a positive change from Sempra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 95.29%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Cynthia J. Warner purchased 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $92.95 per share, with a total value of $232,375.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 11,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,011.25. This represents a 28.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 2,692 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $93.30 per share, for a total transaction of $251,163.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 17,376 shares in the company, valued at $1,621,180.80. The trade was a 18.33% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 and sold 7,539 shares worth $706,906. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered Sempra Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $102.67.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company's product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.

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