Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Acquired by Wealthspire Advisors LLC

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 746 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.8% during the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,328,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,025,777,000 after buying an additional 2,090,840 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 19.5% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 3,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 7.5% in the second quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 234,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,755,000 after acquiring an additional 16,370 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In related news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total value of $503,690.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 34,164 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,128,739.12. This represents a 13.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,129 shares of company stock valued at $4,809,916. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.33.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $92.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $60.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $90.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.59.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.14%.

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.