Petix & Botte Co Purchases 1,786 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Petix & Botte Co lifted its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,786 shares during the quarter. Petix & Botte Co’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,238,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,584,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,047 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 26.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,686,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,474,236,000 after buying an additional 10,278,893 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 3.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,036,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,058,214,000 after buying an additional 525,750 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its stake in Sempra Energy by 0.3% in the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 13,331,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $951,312,000 after buying an additional 41,104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 4.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,520,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $536,671,000 after buying an additional 291,026 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,619 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,392. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.42.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $92.52 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.78. The stock has a market cap of $60.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 79.14%.

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.