DAVENPORT & Co LLC Invests $1.37 Million in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• DAVENPORT & Co LLC has invested approximately $1.37 million in Sempra Energy, acquiring 18,167 shares of the utility provider during the second quarter.
• Institutional investors own 89.65% of Sempra Energy's stock, with notable increases from firms like Wellington Management Group and JPMorgan Chase & Co..
• Sempra Energy's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.89, exceeding expectations, but its revenue fell short of projections, totaling $3 billion.

DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 18,167 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,370,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,278,893 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $192,130,000. PointState Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $154,369,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $160,357,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 42.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,647,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $331,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,433 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SRE shares. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.09.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 1.6%

Sempra Energy stock opened at $90.15 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 12 month low of $61.90 and a 12 month high of $95.77. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $84.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $58.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.66.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sempra Energy's payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was 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 through this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. This represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SRE? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.