Castellan Group Raises Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Castellan Group grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 8.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 40,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,083 shares during the quarter. Sempra Energy accounts for approximately 0.6% of Castellan Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Castellan Group’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $3,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Sempra Energy by 10.3% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,495,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,435,000 after acquiring an additional 229,045 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,656,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $260,950,000 after acquiring an additional 648,530 shares during the last quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 2,182,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $155,739,000 after acquiring an additional 52,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,676,000 after acquiring an additional 11,811 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE SRE opened at $91.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of $59.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.66. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.89.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.07. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 20.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,114 shares of Sempra Energy 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. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of Sempra Energy 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,000. This represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 49,987 shares of company stock valued at $4,267,870. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $93.00 price target (up previously from $86.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Monday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Sempra Energy from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.09.

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.