HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 44,982 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.5% in the first quarter, owning approximately 1.3 million shares valued at about $93.99 million.
• Sempra Energy recorded earnings of $0.89 per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.82 per share.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.1%.

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,317,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 44,982 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.20% of Sempra Energy worth $93,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $192,130,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $408,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,865 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Sempra Energy by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $331,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,433 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,584,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Sempra Energy by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $534,479,000 after acquiring an additional 823,663 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $81.99. The company had a trading volume of 2,775,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,572,359. 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 $53.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $77.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.76. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SRE. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued 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 increased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.58.

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.