Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Boosts Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Inspire Trust Co. N.A. significantly increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 53.2% during the first quarter, now holding 57,000 shares valued at approximately $4.07 million.
• Sempra Energy reported earnings of $0.89 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, despite a 0.4% decrease in revenue year-over-year.
• Institutional investors currently hold 89.65% of Sempra Energy's stock, indicating substantial interest and confidence from major financial players.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 53.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 19,800 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $4,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,584,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,047 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $534,479,000 after purchasing an additional 823,663 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Sempra Energy by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,181,693 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $629,978,000 after acquiring an additional 538,919 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Sempra Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,168,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $368,814,000 after acquiring an additional 25,254 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Sempra Energy by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $408,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,865 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 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 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 owned by company insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of SRE traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $82.63. 1,113,051 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,536,598. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.64. 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 $53.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.96, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.62.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.58.

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.