Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by Davidson Investment Advisors

Key Points

• Davidson Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.3%, owning approximately 438,774 shares valued at about $33.25 million.
• Multiple analysts have issued reports with raised target prices for Sempra Energy, with Mizuho and Morgan Stanley both setting targets at $93.00, and Evercore ISI setting a target at $105.00.
• Corporate insiders have sold a total of 49,987 shares of the company stock over the last 90 days, highlighting significant insider trading activity in Sempra Energy.

Davidson Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 438,774 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,467 shares during the quarter. Sempra Energy makes up 1.5% of Davidson Investment Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Davidson Investment Advisors owned approximately 0.07% of Sempra Energy worth $33,246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 65.1% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,191 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 2,046 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 462.0% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,548 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $753,000 after acquiring an additional 8,671 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 173,408 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,374,000 after acquiring an additional 13,433 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Sempra Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $1,099,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SRE. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays raised 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,475 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 0.2%

SRE stock opened at $91.35 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $59.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.38. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.32%.

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.

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