Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC

Key Points

• Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 33.6% in the second quarter, totaling 62,900 shares valued at approximately $4.77 million.
• Analysts have raised their price target for Sempra Energy, with Barclays setting it at **$80.00** and BMO Capital Markets at **$95.00**, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.
• Sempra Energy recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.645 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 2.8%.

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 33.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 15,817 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC's holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $4,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SRE. Pingora Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in Sempra Energy by 230.8% during the second 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 period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the first quarter worth $38,000. Eastern Bank raised its position in Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new position in Sempra Energy during the second quarter worth $51,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $93.00 target price (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.09.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, 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 transaction of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 directly 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 a total of 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sempra Energy Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of SRE opened at $91.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.66.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. Sempra Energy's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

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

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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