Capital Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,451 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 74.6% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 117.4% during the third quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SRE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $98.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,539 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.38, for a total value of $146,789.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 4,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $441,895.54. The trade was a 24.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jennifer M. Kirk purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $93.44 per share, for a total transaction of $93,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,440. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 6,192 shares of company stock valued at $576,979. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.7%

SRE opened at $96.57 on Tuesday. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $97.61. The company has a market cap of $63.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.70.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. Sempra Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 19th will be paid a $0.6575 dividend. This is an increase from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.29%.

Sempra Energy Profile

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company’s product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.