Maven Securities LTD Acquires Shares of 20,000 Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Maven Securities LTD has acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy, purchasing 20,000 shares valued at approximately $1,427,000 during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors currently own 89.65% of Sempra Energy's stock, with several hedge funds recently increasing their stakes in the company.
• Sempra Energy reported EPS of $0.89 for the recent quarter, exceeding expectations, although its revenue of $3 billion fell short of analysts' forecasts of $3.35 billion.

Maven Securities LTD acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 20,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,427,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $3,604,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,474,236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 145.7% in the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 48,359 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,451,000 after acquiring an additional 28,678 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 10,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $771,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,071 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:SRE traded down $1.2030 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $81.1970. 3,398,640 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,543,492. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $52.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other 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 value of $419,399.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Barclays reduced 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup restated 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.58.

Sempra Energy 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.