Sempra Energy $SRE Shares Purchased by TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 26.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 483,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 101,040 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $36,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,396,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 42.1% in the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 12,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 12,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In related 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 transaction of $1,291,753.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,128.75. This trade represents a 27.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 47,619 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,392. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $82.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.42.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $91.59 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $89.96 and its 200-day moving average is $82.30. 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 company has a market capitalization of $59.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. Sempra Energy has a fifty-two week low of $61.90 and a fifty-two week high of $95.77.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities research 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 Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 79.14%.

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.