Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. Takes Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $192,130,000. PointState Capital LP bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at about $154,369,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $160,357,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $331,681,000 after buying an additional 1,391,433 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $93.63 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $88.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.32. The company has a market capitalization of $61.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.62, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 62.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.42.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,128.75. This represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 52,733 shares of company stock valued at $4,541,791. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

About Sempra Energy

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.