Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 16.6% in Q4 to 117,369 shares (about $10.36 million), amid high institutional ownership of roughly 89.65%.
• Sempra beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.28 vs. $1.12) but slightly missed revenue, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.6575 (annualized $2.63, yield ~2.8%, payout ratio ~95%), and holds a consensus "Moderate Buy" analyst rating with an average target of $102.67.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 117,369 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,710 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $10,363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 2,092.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 463,224 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $40,898,000 after acquiring an additional 442,095 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 339,671 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $30,082,000 after acquiring an additional 10,932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 88.8% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 406 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total transaction of $146,789.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,633 shares in the company, valued at $441,895.54. This trade represents a 24.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 1,128 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $109,066.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 21,632 shares in the company, valued at $2,091,598.08. This trade represents a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 and sold 7,539 shares worth $706,906. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $93.23 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $95.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.92. The company has a market capitalization of $60.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $72.99 and a fifty-two week high of $101.04.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This is a boost from Sempra Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is 95.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $104.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $105.00 price target (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $102.67.

Sempra Energy Profile

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company's product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.

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