146,405 Shares in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) Purchased by Carnegie Investment Counsel

Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 146,405 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $10,440,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SRE shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price target (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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.75.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Sempra Energy stock traded up $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $80.85. 2,137,979 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,156,543. The firm's fifty day moving average is $76.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.78. The company has a market capitalization of $52.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th were issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $595,193.90. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. The trade was a 32.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.