Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Raises Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 344,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,284 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $26,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.2% in the second quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 5,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake 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. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,370 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.0% during the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $211,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price objective (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.09.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

SRE stock opened at $91.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $59.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.75. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were 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 was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $1,291,753.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,259. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

About Sempra Energy

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.