GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 353,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,437 shares during the period. Sempra Energy makes up approximately 1.4% of GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $26,794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Pingora Partners LLC raised its position in Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Eastern Bank raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE SRE opened at $90.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.82 billion, a PE ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.66. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $84.32 and its 200 day moving average is $78.08.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%.Sempra Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their position. 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 Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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. 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 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.