Sempra Energy $SRE Stock Holdings Increased by Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $291,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 18.3% in the 1st quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 20,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 3,170 shares in the last quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 621,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,336,000 after buying an additional 88,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 114.1% in the 1st quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 548,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,113,000 after buying an additional 292,123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.7%

Sempra Energy stock opened at $81.27 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.66. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.62. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion for 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%. Sempra Energy’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SRE. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.58.

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.