A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 2,780 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 29,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,780 shares during the quarter. Sempra Energy accounts for 1.7% of A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $2,208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Pingora Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SRE. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.55.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.9%

SRE stock opened at $86.48 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.43. The company has a market cap of $56.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.32%.

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.