Petrus Trust Company LTA Invests $729,000 in Sempra Energy $SRE

Petrus Trust Company LTA purchased a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $729,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,584,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,047 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,474,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $951,312,000 after purchasing an additional 41,104 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,671,000 after purchasing an additional 291,026 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $534,479,000 after purchasing an additional 823,663 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $81.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.58, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.66.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. Sempra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.33.

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.