Danske Bank A S Makes New $45.31 Million Investment in Sempra Energy $SRE

Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 503,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $45,310,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 117.4% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Motco grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 1,945.8% during the 3rd quarter. Motco now owns 491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $95.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.73. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $91.25 and a 200 day moving average of $89.91.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS 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 $0.6575 dividend. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This is a boost from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 93.48%.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In related news, Director Richard J. Mark bought 2,692 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $93.30 per share, for a total transaction of $251,163.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,376 shares in the company, valued at $1,621,180.80. This trade represents a 18.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total transaction of $146,789.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $441,895.54. This represents a 24.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired a total of 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Friday, March 6th. Argus raised shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.55.

Sempra Energy Company 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.