Oak Thistle LLC Acquires New Position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Oak Thistle LLC 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 6,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $442,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $584,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758,037 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 71.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. 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. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 target price (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.75.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE traded down $0.65 on Monday, reaching $80.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 483,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,623,072. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a market cap of $52.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, 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 company insiders.

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.