Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 525,750 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,058,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SRE. CWM LLC boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 38.8% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 20,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 5,716 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 107.2% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 10,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $772,000 after acquiring an additional 5,598 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 2,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 4.5% during the first quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total transaction of $400,001.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. The trade was a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following 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 is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,619 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,392. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.42.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $92.23 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $89.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a twelve month low of $61.90 and a twelve month high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 79.14%.

Sempra Energy Company 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.