Vision Financial Markets LLC Takes Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.3% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,656,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,950,000 after acquiring an additional 648,530 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 7.0% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,495,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $249,435,000 after acquiring an additional 229,045 shares in the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,182,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $155,739,000 after acquiring an additional 52,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 46.0% in the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after buying an additional 11,811 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $419,399.14. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $93.18 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $86.55 and a 200 day moving average of $79.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $60.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released 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 firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st were given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on SRE. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays set a $101.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

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.