Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Grows Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 34.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,832 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,584,032,000 after buying an additional 1,220,047 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,489,903 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $534,479,000 after buying an additional 823,663 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,181,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $629,978,000 after buying an additional 538,919 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,168,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $368,814,000 after acquiring an additional 25,254 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,936,865 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on SRE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $88.00 price target (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.58.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of SRE opened at $82.4350 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $77.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.74. The stock has a market cap of $53.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.62. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.