CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. Purchases Shares of 90,008 Sempra Energy $SRE

CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 90,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,099,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.6% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 117.4% in the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the third quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Motco boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1,945.8% during the third quarter. Motco now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Jennifer M. Kirk purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $93.44 per share, with a total value of $93,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,440. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of Sempra Energy 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 39,029 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,304.82. This trade represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SRE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Argus upgraded Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $112.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued 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 $100.55.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE opened at $91.75 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $97.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $59.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.01.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 95.29%.

Sempra Energy 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.