Bleakley Financial Group LLC Boosts Stake in Sempra Energy $SRE

Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 4.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pingora Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.81 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm has a market cap of $60.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.31 and a 200 day moving average of $79.71. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. BTIG Research raised shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sempra Energy news, 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 transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,259. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.