Dakota Wealth Management Purchases 14,421 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,421 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $9,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,725,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,813,784,000 after acquiring an additional 9,396,652 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Sempra Energy during the second quarter worth $701,649,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Sempra Energy by 106.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,428,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,325,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374,277 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Sempra Energy by 9.2% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 54,071,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,865,115,000 after buying an additional 4,572,312 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sempra Energy by 40.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,419,115 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $937,512,000 after buying an additional 2,984,409 shares during the last quarter. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up from $96.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Sempra Energy from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Sempra Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Argus upgraded shares of Sempra Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.73.

Sempra Energy Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of SRE stock opened at $95.53 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 12-month low of $61.90 and a 12-month high of $97.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $91.79 and a 200-day moving average of $90.36. The company has a market capitalization of $62.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.16. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sempra Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 19th will be given a $0.6575 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 19th. This represents a $2.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Sempra Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 95.29%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other news, Director Richard J. Mark purchased 2,692 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $93.30 per share, with a total value of $251,163.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,376 shares in the company, valued at $1,621,180.80. The trade was a 18.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 4,872 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.58, for a total transaction of $451,049.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,304.82. This represents a 11.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 6,192 shares of company stock worth $576,979. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Company Profile

Sempra Energy is a San Diego–based energy infrastructure company that develops, owns and operates businesses delivering electricity and natural gas. Its operations include regulated utility services that provide electric and gas distribution to residential, commercial and industrial customers, as well as non‑regulated infrastructure businesses that develop and manage large-scale energy assets.

The company’s product and service portfolio spans electricity and natural gas delivery, transmission and storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities, power generation and electric transmission projects.