Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 16,370 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 234,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,370 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $17,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 21.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,656,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,950,000 after purchasing an additional 648,530 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 7.0% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,495,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $249,435,000 after purchasing an additional 229,045 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,182,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $155,739,000 after purchasing an additional 52,838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 46.0% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after buying an additional 11,811 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,128.75. The trade was a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $1,291,753.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 47,619 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,392 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $91.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $89.96 and a 200 day moving average of $82.30. 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 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. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.42.

Sempra Energy 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.