Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Buys 5,153 Shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Sempra Energy by 206.0% in Q1, owning a total of 7,655 shares, valued at approximately $546,000.
• Several other institutional investors have also adjusted their holdings in Sempra Energy, with 89.65% of the stock currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• Sempra Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, representing a 3.2% dividend yield based on its current payout ratio of 56.70%.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 206.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 5,153 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in Sempra Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,194 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $719,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 6,195 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $543,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,639 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in 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 valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its position in Sempra Energy by 5.0% in the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SRE shares. Barclays cut their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $88.00 price objective (up previously from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. 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, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.58.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $126,080.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SRE traded up $1.59 during trading on Thursday, reaching $82.74. The company had a trading volume of 5,952,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,613,135. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The stock has a market cap of $53.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.18, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The business's 50 day moving average price is $76.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.83.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 22.15%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th were paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio is 56.70%.

Sempra Energy Company 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.