Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Buys 3,351 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• The Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio has increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.2%, acquiring an additional 3,351 shares, bringing its total holdings to 282,280 shares valued at approximately $21.39 million.
• Analyst ratings for Sempra Energy are generally positive, with six analysts giving a Buy rating and a consensus price target of $84.55, reflecting confidence in the company's future performance.
• Sempra Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645, equating to an annual yield of 3.0%, with the ex-dividend date set for October 1st.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 282,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 3,351 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $21,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after acquiring an additional 10,278,893 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $192,130,000. PointState Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $154,369,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $160,357,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $331,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,433 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $93.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday. 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, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.55.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $86.48 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $56.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. This represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.

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