Short Interest in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Drops By 13.1%

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 8,870,993 shares, a decrease of 13.1% from the February 26th total of 10,207,847 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,349,379 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Cynthia J. Warner acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $92.95 per share, for a total transaction of $232,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,011.25. The trade was a 28.49% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jennifer M. Kirk bought 1,000 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $93.44 per share, with a total value of $93,440.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,440. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired a total of 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sempra Energy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 19.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 85,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,678,000 after buying an additional 13,864 shares during the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,091,000. Amundi boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 20.8% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,903,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $142,429,000 after acquiring an additional 327,154 shares during the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 5.7% during the third quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 203,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,302,000 after acquiring an additional 11,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $150,993,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $96.57 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.70. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $97.61. The stock has a market cap of $63.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 95.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.73.

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.