J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Raises Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 41.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,239 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at $701,649,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 786.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,957,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,082,000 after buying an additional 2,623,637 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 809.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,750,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,435,000 after buying an additional 2,448,415 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,328,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,025,777,000 after buying an additional 2,090,840 shares during the period. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 321.9% in the 2nd quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP now owns 1,676,932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,061,000 after buying an additional 1,279,431 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE:SRE opened at $87.25 on Wednesday. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.05.

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

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total transaction of $137,983.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,481 shares in the company, valued at $318,093.78. The trade was a 30.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total value of $698,081.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,809,731.20. This represents a 15.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 19,396 shares of company stock worth $1,785,606 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $97.00 target price (down from $98.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.83.

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.