Trexquant Investment LP Takes $1.20 Million Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has invested approximately $1.20 million in Sempra Energy, acquiring 16,848 shares in the first quarter.
• Sempra Energy's stock is currently down 1.3% and reported a net margin of 20.28% for the most recent quarter, with earnings per share of $0.89.
• Analysts have a consensus target price of $82.33 for Sempra Energy, with a mix of Buy and Hold ratings from market analysts.

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 16,848 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,202,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,542,730 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $110,089,000 after buying an additional 126,985 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 64,181 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,580,000 after acquiring an additional 22,642 shares during the period. Delta Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $257,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter worth $6,320,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $82.33.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.3%

Sempra Energy stock traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $83.11. The company had a trading volume of 2,352,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,445,948. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.55. The firm has a market cap of $54.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, 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 insiders.

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.