UMB Bank n.a. Has $1.09 Million Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 438 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.3% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 173,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,374,000 after purchasing an additional 13,433 shares during the period. Carrera Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.0% in the first quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 49,570 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,569,000 after purchasing an additional 3,677 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 53.2% in the first quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 57,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,068,000 after purchasing an additional 19,800 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 171.2% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 7,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.27.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of SRE opened at $83.27 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.08.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.Sempra Energy’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Sempra Energy Company 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.