ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Key Points

• ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. has increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 22.3% during Q2, owning 288,191 shares, valued at approximately $21.8 million.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Sempra Energy, with Barclays setting a target at $80 and BMO Capital Markets at $95, indicating positive sentiment among investment analysts.
• Sempra Energy declared a quarterly dividend of $0.645 to be paid on October 15th, representing an annualized rate of $2.58 and a yield of 2.8%.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Free Report) by 22.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 288,191 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 52,583 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $21,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.2% during the second quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 5,999 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 1.7% in the first 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. Pingora Partners LLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its position in Sempra Energy by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,988 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $211,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 11,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SRE shares. Barclays increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Mizuho increased their price target on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $93.00 price target (up from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $84.55.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,149.75. This represents a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $91.48 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $59.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $83.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.26.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

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