Castellan Group Acquires 3,083 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Castellan Group boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares during the quarter. Sempra Energy accounts for approximately 0.6% of Castellan Group’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Castellan Group’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $3,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,584,032,000 after buying an additional 1,220,047 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after buying an additional 10,278,893 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $951,312,000 after buying an additional 41,104 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $536,671,000 after buying an additional 291,026 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $534,479,000 after buying an additional 823,663 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.09.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $91.66 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $59.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $84.14 and its 200 day moving average is $77.89.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. Sempra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $1,291,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,259. This represents a 93.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.