BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Increases Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• British Columbia Investment Management Corp increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 33% in the first quarter, owning 740,728 shares worth approximately $52.86 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed opinions on Sempra Energy, with Barclays lowering its price target while Citigroup raised it to $80, resulting in an average target price of $81.58 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Sempra Energy reported $0.89 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, though its revenue declined slightly by 0.4% year-over-year.

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 33.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 740,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 183,686 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned 0.11% of Sempra Energy worth $52,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,584,032,000 after buying an additional 1,220,047 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,474,236,000 after buying an additional 10,278,893 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $951,312,000 after buying an additional 41,104 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $536,671,000 after buying an additional 291,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.4% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $534,479,000 after buying an additional 823,663 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% 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, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded down $0.57 on Thursday, reaching $81.69. 856,143 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,474,466. The company has a market cap of $53.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $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. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.