Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Buys 10,367 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 285,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,367 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $25,705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Sempra Energy by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 245.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 117.4% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 424 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total transaction of $137,983.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $318,093.78. This represents a 30.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,048,128.75. This represents a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,396 shares of company stock worth $1,785,606. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $112.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho raised their price target on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Barclays cut their price objective 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 reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $99.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.92.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $88.37 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $89.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.64. The stock has a market cap of $57.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.74.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 15.63%.Sempra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th were given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company’s product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.