Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. Grows Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Tortoise Capital Advisors increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 36.0%, acquiring an additional 380,970 shares in the first quarter, now holding a total of 1,440,125 shares valued at approximately $102.8 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and Merit Financial Group, also increased their positions in Sempra, highlighting strong institutional interest with 89.65% of the stock owned by institutional investors.
• Sempra Energy reported $0.89 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, though its revenue decreased by 0.4% year-over-year to $3 billion.

Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 36.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,440,125 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 380,970 shares during the quarter. Sempra Energy makes up 1.2% of Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C.'s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. owned 0.22% of Sempra Energy worth $102,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 173,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $12,374,000 after purchasing an additional 13,433 shares during the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 8.0% in the first quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 49,570 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,569,000 after buying an additional 3,677 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 171.2% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 7,012 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $483,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 81.0% in the first quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 46,277 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,302,000 after buying an additional 20,707 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.33.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, 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 company insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $82.18. The stock had a trading volume of 808,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,478,789. The firm has a market cap of $53.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.85, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.62. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The business's fifty day moving average is $78.54 and its 200-day moving average is $75.69. 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 (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.Sempra Energy's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Company 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.