GC Wealth Management RIA LLC Buys New Shares in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• GC Wealth Management RIA LLC has acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy, purchasing 3,810 shares valued at approximately $289,000 during the second quarter.
• Analysts are optimistic about Sempra Energy's stock price, with firms like Morgan Stanley and Mizuho setting target prices of $93.00, reflecting a positive outlook on the company.
• Sempra Energy has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.645, which will be paid on October 15th, giving it an annualized rate of $2.58 and a yield of 2.9%.

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,810 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SRE. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 4,338.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 592,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $42,250,000 after buying an additional 578,733 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 188.9% in the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 855 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 171.2% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,107 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 7,012 shares in the last quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 28.3% in the first quarter. Iams Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,540 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KWB Wealth bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the first quarter valued at $170,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $93.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.55.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, 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 dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were 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 directly owned 15,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. This trade represents a 65.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.8%

SRE opened at $89.22 on Thursday. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77. 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 capitalization of $58.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $82.82 and a 200-day moving average of $76.99.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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