Peak Financial Advisors LLC Invests $823,000 in Sempra Energy $SRE

Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 9,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 51.2% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 245.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Sempra Energy by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 74.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of SRE stock opened at $86.71 on Thursday. Sempra Energy has a 52-week low of $61.90 and a 52-week high of $95.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $56.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.67% and a net margin of 15.63%.The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sempra Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be paid a $0.645 dividend. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is presently 79.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $91.00 price target on Sempra Energy in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group set a $96.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Sempra Energy from $95.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the firm’s 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 owned 1,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,259. This trade represents a 93.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Caroline Ann Winn sold 5,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.58, for a total value of $503,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 34,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,128,739.12. The trade was a 13.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,829 shares of company stock worth $3,077,360. 0.27% of the stock is owned by 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.