Sound Income Strategies LLC Has $1.12 Million Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $1,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SRE. Pingora Partners LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st 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 period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 230.8% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 73.7% in the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Sempra Energy by 188.9% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 559 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $93.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.55.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE SRE opened at $89.74 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. 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 earnings results 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 firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is currently 62.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sempra Energy news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total transaction of $2,430,637.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Sempra Energy 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.