Insider Buying: Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Director Buys 2,500 Shares of Stock

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Director Cynthia Warner acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $92.95 per share, with a total value of $232,375.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,011.25. This represents a 28.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:SRE traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $92.76. 2,131,730 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,597,272. The company has a market capitalization of $60.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $97.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.43.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This is a positive change from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 93.48%.

Institutional Trading of Sempra Energy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 516,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,641,000 after purchasing an additional 70,055 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 2,483,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $219,295,000 after buying an additional 234,894 shares in the last quarter. Bayban acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Sempra Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 46,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,130,000 after buying an additional 10,584 shares during the period. Finally, EJMK Ventures LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $226,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Argus upgraded Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

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.