626 Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• 626 Financial LLC acquired a stake in Sempra Energy worth approximately $210,000 by purchasing 2,768 shares in the second quarter.
• Sempra Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, with a yield of 2.8%, to be paid on October 15th.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Sempra Energy, with six rating it as a Buy and seven as a Hold, while the average target price is $86.09.

626 Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Pingora Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Eastern Bank boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the second quarter valued at $51,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $92.41 on Tuesday. 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 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $60.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50-day moving average is $83.44 and its 200 day moving average is $77.52.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 62.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.09.

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.

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