Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by Stablepoint Partners LLC

Stablepoint Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,057 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,328,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,025,777,000 after purchasing an additional 2,090,840 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 26.8% in 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,058,214,000 after buying an additional 525,750 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 0.3% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the second quarter worth about $701,649,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. The trade was a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total transaction of $137,983.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 3,481 shares in the company, valued at $318,093.78. The trade was a 30.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,693 shares of company stock worth $5,507,997. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $94.72 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.72. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $61.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 price target (up from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.92.

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.