Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Position in Sempra Energy $SRE

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 11,797 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,141 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 37,957 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,876,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 31.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 2,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,874 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,430,000 after buying an additional 1,792 shares in the last quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,583,000 after buying an additional 628 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC purchased a new position in Sempra Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,000. 89.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Sempra Energy stock opened at $92.08 on Thursday. 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 price of $85.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.21. The company has a market cap of $60.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.48.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Sempra Energy’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,229,553.80. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The shares were 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 directly owned 1,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,259. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,411 shares of company stock valued at $4,141,790. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $106.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays set a $101.00 target price on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.50.

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.