Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Has $4.14 Million Stock Position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 58,051 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 7,012 shares during the period. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $4,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the 4th quarter worth $1,535,000,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 38,407,154 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,369,076,000 after purchasing an additional 4,082,261 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,666,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $584,763,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758,037 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 71.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,651,923 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,069,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936,865 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,489,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,797,376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511,313 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $74.09 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a market capitalization of $48.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $75.23 and a 200-day moving average of $77.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.12. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 22.15% and a return on equity of 8.55%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 26th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SRE. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $95.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $92.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.83.

Insider Activity at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, insider Diana L. Day sold 8,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $595,193.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. This trade represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Justin Christopher Bird sold 4,817 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.23, for a total transaction of $343,114.91. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,408,786.94. The trade was a 19.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by 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.