State of Alaska Department of Revenue Buys 24,005 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 33.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,218 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 24,005 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $6,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. L & S Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 41,601 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 14,338 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 9,479 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 990 shares during the period. Blue Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth $3,556,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,740,845 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $328,147,000 after buying an additional 115,372 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestline Management LP bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $6,183,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $74.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.12 and a 200-day moving average of $77.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.64.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The company's revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Sempra Energy from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.83.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. This represents a 19.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,969 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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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