Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Acquired by Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd

Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 15.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 88,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,946 shares during the quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $7,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. West Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 1.1% during the third quarter. West Wealth Group LLC now owns 10,207 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $942,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 6,911 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $622,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 9,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $871,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 24.4% during the 2nd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 2,500 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $92.95 per share, for a total transaction of $232,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,011.25. This represents a 28.49% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,613,304.82. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reiterated 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 raised Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.55.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $91.75 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $97.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.01. The company has a market capitalization of $59.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59.

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

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 95.29%.

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.