Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Has $3.90 Million Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 82.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,648 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,731 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $3,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SRE. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $88.00 target price (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 16,969 shares in the company, valued at $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE traded down $0.71 on Friday, hitting $80.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,661,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,051,971. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.62. Sempra Energy has a one year low of $61.90 and a one year 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 22.15%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were paid a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.70%.

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.