Bank of Montreal Can Has $76.33 Million Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 848,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,442 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.13% of Sempra Energy worth $76,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,678,000 after buying an additional 13,864 shares during the period. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at about $3,091,000. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 20.8% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $142,429,000 after buying an additional 327,154 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $150,993,000. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its position in Sempra Energy by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 203,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $18,302,000 after purchasing an additional 11,020 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total value of $451,049.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,304.82. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $92.95 per share, for a total transaction of $232,375.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 11,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,048,011.25. This represents a 28.49% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SRE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 target price (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $90.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.45. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $97.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.6575 per share. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.48%.

About Sempra Energy

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.