Insider Selling: Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) EVP Sells 1,128 Shares of Stock

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 1,128 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.69, for a total value of $109,066.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 21,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,091,598.08. The trade was a 4.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE traded up $1.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $98.55. 345,073 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,889,069. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $98.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $92.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.84.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. Sempra Energy’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays set a $95.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.73.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 19.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,678,000 after acquiring an additional 13,864 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 20.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,429,000 after buying an additional 327,154 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.7% during the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 203,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,302,000 after purchasing an additional 11,020 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $150,993,000. Finally, Greenland Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 282.4% during the 3rd quarter. Greenland Capital Management LP now owns 107,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,664,000 after buying an additional 79,314 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sempra Energy

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.