Swedbank AB Buys 15,455 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Swedbank AB increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.4%, now holding 368,080 shares valued at approximately $27.89 million.
• Sempra Energy reported $0.89 EPS for the last quarter, beating estimates, but its revenue fell by 0.4% year-over-year, totaling $3 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.1%, with a payout ratio of 62.32%.

Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 368,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 15,455 shares during the period. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.06% of Sempra Energy worth $27,889,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Pingora Partners LLC raised its position in Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SRE. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.27.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:SRE traded up $3.93 on Tuesday, hitting $86.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,157,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,495,794. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.95, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.65.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.