Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 22.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,141 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pingora Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 74.1% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 73.7% during the first quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the second quarter valued at about $51,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.08 on Thursday. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $85.88 and a 200 day moving average of $79.21. 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 capitalization of $60.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.66.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st were issued a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 62.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $106.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Barclays set a $101.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,411 shares of company stock worth $4,141,790 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.