Vestcor Inc Has $13.82 Million Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 31.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,611 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,875 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $13,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $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 in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,091,000. Amundi lifted its stake 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 during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 74,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,714,000 after purchasing an additional 18,359 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays set a $95.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:SRE opened at $92.71 on Monday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $90.28 and its 200 day moving average is $89.27. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $97.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.6575 per share. 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 a positive change from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 93.48%.

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.