Perpetual Ltd Acquires 1,200,559 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 59.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,235,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200,559 shares during the period. Sempra Energy makes up 3.6% of Perpetual Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $291,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Sempra Energy by 51.2% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Mendel Money Management lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.6% during the second quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 8,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 2.2% during the second quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 5,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 0.6% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. UBS Group set a $96.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $1,291,753.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,829 shares of company stock valued at $3,077,360. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:SRE opened at $86.97 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $91.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.38. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.68, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 79.14%.

Sempra Energy 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.