Harbour Capital Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 6,259 Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy, purchasing 6,259 shares valued at approximately $468,000 during the second quarter.
• Sempra Energy reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.89 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $0.82, despite a 0.4% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Analysts have set an average price target for Sempra Energy at $81.27, with several brokerages recently raising their price objectives following positive earnings reports.

Harbour Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $468,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Pingora Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 11,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,212 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $83.27 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $81.14 and its 200 day moving average is $76.00. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

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. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Barclays upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117. 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.

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