Maxi Investments CY Ltd Takes $2.31 Million Position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Key Points

• Maxi Investments CY Ltd acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy, purchasing 32,400 shares valued at approximately $2,312,000 in the first quarter.
• Institutional investors own 89.65% of Sempra Energy's stock, reflecting significant interest from various hedge funds and financial entities.
• Sempra Energy reported earnings of $1.44 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and has a dividend yield of 3.1% with a payout ratio of 56.70%.

Maxi Investments CY Ltd purchased a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 32,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,312,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Sempra Energy in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Eastern Bank lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the 1st 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 bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 target price (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.58.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 2.0%

SRE traded up $1.59 during trading on Thursday, reaching $82.74. The company had a trading volume of 5,961,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,321,867. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.81. The stock has a market cap of $53.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.62. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 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 down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is 56.70%.

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.