Advisors Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 16.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,397 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Sempra Energy by 51.2% during the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 245.1% during the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 74.1% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. BTIG Research raised shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.92.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $94.72 on Monday. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.72. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $61.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.29.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 79.14%.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 500 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total transaction of $45,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 33,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,086,988.80. The trade was a 1.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 62,693 shares of company stock worth $5,507,997 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.