Patton Fund Management Inc. Invests $223,000 in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. invested approximately $223,000 in Sempra Energy, acquiring 2,948 shares in the second quarter.
• Several large investors, including ST Germain D J Co. Inc. and A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc., significantly increased their holdings in Sempra Energy, indicating strong interest in the company.
• Sempra Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, which will be paid on October 15th, representing an annualized yield of 2.9%.

Patton Fund Management Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,948 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 29,150 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,208,000 after acquiring an additional 2,780 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 69.1% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 3,322 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 39,305 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,978,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 80,922 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,134,000 after acquiring an additional 11,111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SRE. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $93.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.55.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $89.74 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.82. The stock has a market cap of $58.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date 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, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% 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 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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