Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Sells 5,300 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

by · The Cerbat Gem

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SREFree Report) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 155,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $13,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 21.8% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 87,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,747,000 after buying an additional 15,698 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 69,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,092,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 65,569 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,685,000 after buying an additional 4,376 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 793.9% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 3,987 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 3,541 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 2,500 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $92.95 per share, for a total transaction of $232,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,011.25. This represents a 28.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total value of $451,049.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,304.82. The trade was a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and sold 7,539 shares valued at $706,906. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $94.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $73.06 and a 52-week high of $101.04. The firm has a market cap of $61.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $95.13 and its 200 day moving average is $91.97.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SREGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 13.27%.The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.6575 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 19th. This is a positive change from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.67.

Read Our Latest Research Report on SRE

About Sempra Energy

(Free Report)

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.

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