Morningstar Investment Management LLC Has $936,000 Stock Position in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 27.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,111 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,863 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 8.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 173,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,374,000 after purchasing an additional 13,433 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 171.2% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 11,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 7,012 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $1,099,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. now owns 46,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 20,707 shares during the period. Finally, Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1,283.7% during the 1st quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 265,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,945,000 after acquiring an additional 246,299 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $77.00 to $75.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Sempra Energy from $93.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays cut their target price on Sempra Energy from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Sempra Energy from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $88.00 price objective (up from $87.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $80.35 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.74. The company has a market cap of $52.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $95.77.

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

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 26th were given a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 26th. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 56.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sempra Energy

In other news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. The trade was a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the insider owned 16,969 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,117.94. This represents a 32.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.