3,143 Shares in Sempra Energy $SRE Purchased by Simon Quick Advisors LLC

Simon Quick Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,143 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pingora Partners LLC raised its position in Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in Sempra Energy by 74.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Eastern Bank raised its position in Sempra Energy by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $99.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total transaction of $1,291,753.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,259. This represents a 93.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:SRE opened at $92.58 on Tuesday. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $87.57 and a 200 day moving average of $80.85. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $60.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.66.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sempra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.32%.

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.