Brighton Jones LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 383 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pingora Partners LLC increased its position in Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its position in Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC grew 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 worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrett & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the second quarter worth about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Barclays set a $101.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $419,399.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,229,553.80. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $92.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. Sempra Energy has a 1-year low of $61.90 and a 1-year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.