Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Buys 1,079 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 34.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares during the period. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC grew its position in Sempra Energy by 2.2% during the second quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 5,999 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the first quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.0% during the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 2,988 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Finally, Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sempra Energy by 1.3% in the first quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 11,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $809,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SRE shares. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 target price (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.09.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $419,399.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,987 shares of company stock worth $4,267,870 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:SRE opened at $92.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.66. 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $83.44 and a 200-day moving average of $77.52.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. Sempra Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 62.32%.

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.