Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Acquired by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 34.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 287,757 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,000 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $25,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 14.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,725,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,813,784,000 after acquiring an additional 9,396,652 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Sempra Energy by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,380,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,626,827,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,931 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,058,214,000 after purchasing an additional 525,750 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Sempra Energy by 106.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $701,649,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $95.66 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $97.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $89.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.92. The company has a market capitalization of $62.43 billion, a PE ratio of 34.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a $0.6575 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 93.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays set a $95.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, November 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.20.

Sempra Energy Company 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.