Aventail Capital Group LP Increases Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Aventail Capital Group LP grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 50.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 394,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 132,302 shares during the period. Sempra Energy makes up approximately 1.6% of Aventail Capital Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Aventail Capital Group LP’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $35,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings 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. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $3,091,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 20.8% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,429,000 after purchasing an additional 327,154 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.7% in the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 203,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,302,000 after purchasing an additional 11,020 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the third quarter valued at about $150,993,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total value of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,304.82. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Mark acquired 2,692 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $93.30 per share, for a total transaction of $251,163.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,621,180.80. This represents a 18.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have bought a total of 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on SRE. UBS Group restated 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. Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $95.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $62.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $90.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.63. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $97.44.

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

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.6575 dividend. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.48%.

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.