Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Makes New $217,000 Investment in Sempra Energy $SRE

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 51.2% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 230.8% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.1% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $92.40 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.08. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. 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 (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sempra Energy’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. BTIG Research raised shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. 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 research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company 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 given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 1,042 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,259. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 48,411 shares of company stock worth $4,141,790. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.