Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Sempra Energy $SRE

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,888 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $9,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 51.2% during the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Sempra Energy by 245.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC increased its stake in Sempra Energy by 48.3% during the 1st quarter. Pingora Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in Sempra Energy by 74.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SRE. Wall Street Zen raised Sempra Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Evercore ISI set a $105.00 price objective on Sempra Energy and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Sempra Energy in a research report on Monday, October 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 target price on Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sempra Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.42.

Sempra Energy Price Performance

Shares of SRE opened at $92.00 on Friday. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $60.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.48 and a 200-day moving average of $82.01.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 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 up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 11th will be issued a $0.645 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 11th. This represents a $2.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Sempra Energy’s payout ratio is 79.14%.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, SVP Alexander Lisa Larroque sold 4,322 shares of Sempra Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.55, for a total value of $400,001.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,048,128.75. The trade was a 27.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin C. Sagara sold 14,433 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.50, for a total value of $1,291,753.50. Following the sale, the director owned 1,042 shares in the company, valued at $93,259. The trade was a 93.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 47,619 shares of company stock valued at $4,122,392. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.