Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Bought by Voya Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 22.9%, acquiring an additional 33,842 shares, bringing their total holdings to 181,327 shares valued at approximately $12.94 million.
• Insider trading activity included executive sales of 5,114 shares and 28,864 shares by top executives, representing significant decreases in their ownership percentages.
• Analysts have expressed positive sentiment with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Sempra Energy, and are projecting earnings per share to reach 4.76 for the current year.

Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 22.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 181,327 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 33,842 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $12,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its position in Sempra Energy by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $403,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 173,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,374,000 after acquiring an additional 13,433 shares in the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,677 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 53.2% in the first quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 57,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,068,000 after acquiring an additional 19,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 171.2% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 7,012 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In related news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. This represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,554 shares of company stock worth $2,976,117. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.27.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE traded down $0.15 on Thursday, reaching $82.51. The stock had a trading volume of 5,866,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,481,643. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $80.82 and a 200 day moving average of $75.84. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.32%.

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.