Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Acquired by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 0.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 594,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 846 shares during the period. Sempra Energy accounts for about 2.2% of RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $45,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 22.2% during the second quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 11,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $894,000 after acquiring an additional 2,141 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.4% during the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 37,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,876,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 31.0% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 2,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.5% during the second quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,792 shares during the period. Finally, Securian Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% during the second quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.2%

Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $85.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.21. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $60.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were paid 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 dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were 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 $93,259. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on SRE. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.50.

About Sempra Energy

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.