Demars Financial Group LLC Makes New Investment in Sempra Energy $SRE

Demars Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SRE. Pingora Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Eastern Bank increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 44.7% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,026 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SRE shares. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.09.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $91.26 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $85.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.84. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year high of $95.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $59.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.66.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company 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.