Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 26.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,236 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. GTS Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 292.4% in the 4th quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 3,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 5,919 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,462,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 8,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,815 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.27.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $87.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $56.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.31.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,554 shares of company stock worth $2,976,117. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.