Sempra Energy $SRE Stake Increased by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. significantly increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 915.8% in the second quarter, acquiring a total of 196,559 shares valued at approximately $14.9 million.
• Sempra Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, translating to an annual dividend yield of 3.1%, set to be paid on October 15th.
• Barclays and Citigroup both raised their price targets for Sempra Energy shares to $80.00, indicating a "Moderate Buy" consensus rating from analysts.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 915.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 196,559 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 177,209 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $14,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $160,357,000. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 179,828 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,626,000 after acquiring an additional 11,200 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.7% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 10,987 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Pachira Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 26,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SRE. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 35,554 shares of company stock worth $2,976,117. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:SRE opened at $82.52 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.17.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.32%.

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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