Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $536.67 Million Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.0%, now owning approximately 7.52 million shares valued at $536.67 million.
• Institutional investors currently hold 89.65% of Sempra Energy's stock, indicating strong support from large financial entities.
• Sempra Energy's recent quarterly earnings surpassed estimates, reporting $0.89 EPS against a consensus of $0.82, though revenue was slightly below expectations at $3 billion.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 291,026 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 1.15% of Sempra Energy worth $536,671,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Eastern Bank boosted 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 worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $81.66. The company had a trading volume of 647,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,473,414. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The firm's fifty day moving average is $78.70 and its 200 day moving average is $75.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.73, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Company 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.