Short Interest in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Increases By 19.8%

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 10,624,752 shares, an increase of 19.8% from the March 15th total of 8,870,993 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,784,831 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, March 29th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 target price (up from $95.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Argus raised Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.64.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE SRE traded down $1.79 on Friday, reaching $94.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,674,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,152,691. The firm has a market cap of $61.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $94.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.84. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $69.08 and a 52 week high of $101.04. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Cynthia J. Warner bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,011.25. This trade represents a 28.49% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 2,692 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $93.30 per share, with a total value of $251,163.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,621,180.80. The trade was a 18.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979 and have sold 7,539 shares valued at $706,906. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sempra Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 76,734,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,774,907,000 after buying an additional 1,008,476 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.2% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,865,115,000 after purchasing an additional 4,572,312 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,810,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,273,460,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824,280 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,330,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,971,524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,298,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,256,592,000 after purchasing an additional 116,554 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.