Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by Arkadios Wealth Advisors

Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 23.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Pingora Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 230.8% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 74.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.00.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $92.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.85. 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 capitalization of $60.41 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.66. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 62.32%.

About Sempra Energy

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.