Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.0% during the first quarter, now owning 169,337 shares valued at approximately $12.08 million.
• Several brokerages have recently adjusted their ratings on Sempra Energy, with Barclays lowering its price objective to $71.00 while Citigroup raised its target to $80.00.
• Sempra Energy's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.89, exceeding estimates, though revenue fell slightly by 0.4% year-over-year to about $3 billion.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 169,337 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 4,998 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $12,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Barclays lowered their price objective on Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.58.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:SRE opened at $82.08 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $77.23 and a 200-day moving average of $75.71. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th were issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 62.32%.

About Sempra Energy

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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