Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 1.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 74,778 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,131 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $5,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 14.3% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 217,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,508,000 after buying an additional 27,196 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 6.5% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 313,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,392,000 after buying an additional 19,264 shares in the last quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.0% during the first quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,225 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,729,000 after buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 53.0% during the first quarter. Spirepoint Private Client LLC now owns 17,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,259,000 after buying an additional 6,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth $262,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of SRE stock opened at $92.23 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $85.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $60.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Barclays set a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.50.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.