KCM Investment Advisors LLC Sells 13,930 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 70.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,930 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC raised its position in Sempra Energy by 48.3% in 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. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 245.1% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $1,291,753.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,042 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 52,733 shares of company stock valued at $4,541,791. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SRE shares. Mizuho raised their price target on Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. BTIG Research upgraded Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.42.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of Sempra Energy stock opened at $93.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $61.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $88.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.44. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.14%.

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.