Everpar Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Everpar Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.7% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the period. Pingora Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 boosted its stake 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. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 1.3% during the first quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC now owns 11,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 5.1% during the first quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. 89.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sempra Energy Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:SRE opened at $82.66 on Wednesday. Sempra Energy has a 1 year low of $61.90 and a 1 year high of $95.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.65. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.79.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Sempra Energy had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 20.28%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 1,576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $126,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 15,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,000. This trade represents a 9.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 28,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.21, for a total value of $2,430,637.44. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,149.75. The trade was a 65.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,554 shares of company stock valued at $2,976,117 in the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.