CENTRAL TRUST Co Purchases 111 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE – Get Rating) by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 111 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $2,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. ClearBridge Investments Ltd bought a new stake in Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth about $130,223,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,199,642 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,228,254,000 after purchasing an additional 625,052 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 154.6% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 876,292 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,680,000 after purchasing an additional 532,093 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 75.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,046,771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $156,953,000 after purchasing an additional 451,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 22.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,287,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $384,577,000 after purchasing an additional 416,022 shares during the last quarter. 84.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 15,964 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.92, for a total value of $2,584,890.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,261 shares in the company, valued at $3,118,741.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Trevor I. Mihalik sold 2,306 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.50, for a total value of $342,441.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 21,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,172,257. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey W. Martin sold 15,964 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.92, for a total transaction of $2,584,890.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,118,741.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,244 shares of company stock worth $5,231,853 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

SRE opened at $146.36 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.05. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $136.54 and a 12 month high of $176.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.29. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 14.74% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 8.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 22nd will be issued a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 21st. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $169.00 to $166.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 1st. TheStreet raised shares of Sempra Energy from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $180.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.60.

Sempra Energy Profile

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Sempra Energy is an energy-service holding company, which engages in the development and operation of energy infrastructure, and provision of electric and gas services. It operates through the following segments: San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E), Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), Sempra Texas Utilities, Sempra Mexico, and Sempra LNG.