Perigon Wealth Management LLC Buys 8,184 Shares of Sempra Energy $SRE

Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) by 54.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,184 shares during the quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Sempra Energy were worth $2,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MKT Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Sempra Energy by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 20,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after buying an additional 1,181 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sempra Energy in the third quarter valued at about $240,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. bought a new position in shares of Sempra Energy during the third quarter valued at about $70,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sempra Energy by 9.4% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,661 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the period. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of Sempra Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 144,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,973,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SRE. Jefferies Financial Group set a $89.00 price target on Sempra Energy and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Sempra Energy from $101.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Sempra Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Sempra Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $99.00 target price (up previously from $80.00) on shares of Sempra Energy in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.17.

Insider Transactions at Sempra Energy

In other Sempra Energy news, CAO Dyan Z. Wold sold 1,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.38, for a total value of $137,983.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $318,093.78. This trade represents a 30.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Karen L. Sedgwick sold 7,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $698,081.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 41,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,809,731.20. The trade was a 15.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 19,396 shares of company stock worth $1,785,606 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Sempra Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $88.81 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $91.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.02. Sempra Energy has a 52 week low of $61.90 and a 52 week high of $95.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.96 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.73.

Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.99 billion. Sempra Energy had a net margin of 15.63% and a return on equity of 8.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sempra Energy will post 4.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Sempra Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.645 per share. This represents a $2.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 11th. Sempra Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 79.14%.

About Sempra Energy

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.