Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC Makes New Investment in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired approximately $160.36 million worth of shares in Sempra Energy, owning 0.32% of the company following the 2nd quarter.
• Wellington Management Group significantly increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 26.8%, holding around $3.47 billion worth of shares after recent purchases.
• Sempra Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 3.1% for shareholders of record by October 1st.

Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,116,362 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $160,357,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC owned approximately 0.32% of Sempra Energy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Pingora Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SRE traded up $3.48 on Tuesday, reaching $85.85. The stock had a trading volume of 1,534,881 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,498,073. The company has a market cap of $56.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.17. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the sale, the director 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.27.

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.